


Don't You Remember 'Us'

by Magestii



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: College AU, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Slice of Life, angsty af in the prologue, implications of parental emotional abuse, school au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7804660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magestii/pseuds/Magestii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beginning with a brief look into their childhood, this is a slice of life story in which Miku deals with her past while managing the present and Luka tries so desperately hard to be a person that she simply is not. Negitoro, yuri and characters with varying interests, don't like, don't read.</p><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was originally posted to my fanfiction.net account under the same name a little over a year ago. I've been having a lot of fun writing it, and so I wanted to post it here. During this prologue, the main characters are children.

**7 years of age: September**

Slamming the car door, two tiny feet hit the asphalt as the small girl carried herself inside the house of her friends. Her father walked in front of her, opening the door to her friends’ house and letting her in, saying something about how there would be a lot of new people around. Miku looked around the room with wide, teal eyes, taking everything in before following her father through a large doorway and going to sit on a couch. After a few minutes of listening to various party conversations, Miku spun around in her seat and leaned on the frame of a window, peering at the sidewalk outside of the small house with curiosity. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, a red blur suddenly came to a crashing stop.

Surprised out of her daydreaming, Miku saw a young girl tangled up in a bike on the sidewalk. She leapt to her feet and grabbed some paper towels, instantly assigning herself the role of the medic. She opened the door of the house and left, approaching the other little girl with the odd pink hair.

“Hey!” she called out, approaching the crashed child, “Do you need help?”

“No.” came a small voice, “I’m... perfectly fine!” it declared defiantly.

“Are you sure?” asked Miku. The other child struggled with the bike for a minute. She pulled in various directions, attempting to disentangle herself from the object, but to no avail. Miku tried to help but was put off by a wave of a captured hand from the other child, who was still intent on accomplishing things herself. After a moment’s pause, the child realized the problem and simply removed her various limbs from where they were tangled by pushing the bike in the proper direction and removing them one at a time. She stood up and brushed herself off, picking up the bike and walking it over to the side of the house, followed closely by Miku.

“Didn’t you wear a helmet?” asked Miku. She simply received a brief shaking of the head, waved off by the other child.

“No,” responded the other girl, “never really see the point in it.”

“t’s to protect your head,” Miku explained incredulously, “so if you crash like that it won’t split open or something.” she made sound effects with her mouth, talking with her hands.

“Eew, that’s gross. I’m usually okay, and I have to stop my bike every time I ride it anyway.” the other child commented offhandedly. Miku cocked her head to the side, wondering if she had heard her correctly.

“Do you always stop your bike by crashing to the ground like that?” she asked confusedly.

“Yeah, of course I do.” responded the child, “why, do you do it differently?”

“Well...” Miku began, “I don’t actually ride bikes, but I think adults do it by slowing it down first and then setting a foot down.”

“Slowing down? That usually just makes me fall off anyway. I prefer my way.” said the child, shrugging it off. “Are you coming to the party too?” she asked.

“Yeah, my friends Rin and Len live here, n’ my dad and I usually come here a lot.” Miku explained.

“That’s great then you’ll be my friend. I don’t know anybody here yet, so it’s nice to know you. I’m Luka, by the way. What’s your name?” She extended a hand.

“I’m Miku.” responded Miku, shaking the hand but recoiling almost immediately at the surprise contact of saliva. She looked at her hand in dismay and then back up to an equally confused Luka.

“Did you spit on it?” asked Miku after a short time, scrunching her nose up.

“Oh yeah. It’s like a thing that means we’re friends or something.” responded Luka, already letting herself inside of the house. Miku followed closely behind, taking her paper towels with her. She set them back where she had found them and led Luka to the room with the couch. In the small flat, there was a kitchen behind an island which could easily be seen from a small yet lush living room. Miku’s parent noticed her and waved, standing next to a woman with hair similar to that of her new self-proclaimed best friend. Luka waved ecstatically to the woman and then turned to Miku.

“If your mom was already here, why did you bike up?” asked Miku.

“Oh that’s not my mom that’s my aunt.” said Luka, “I do live with her though. And I actually forgot to feed the fish so I biked up to do that since I was going to be at this party for long and then biked back, she didn’t know I was gone if it went as planned. Hopefully your friend’s family didn’t notice their bike was missing either.” She dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand.

“So Miku” said Luka, “Do you want to go on a daring adventure with me? Only the best of the best can come out of it alive, but between you and me, I think you’ve got what it takes.”

Miku nodded excitedly, sitting up on the couch so that she was on all fours and watching Luka to see which game she was suggesting. Luka came really close to Miku and whispered into her ear.

“See that dragon?” she whispered, pointing to the tall dog that was patiently sitting by a refrigerator in the kitchen. Miku caught on and nodded.

“Well there’s only a few things that can stop it from attacking the prince and princess, and they don’t know they're in trouble. We’re the secret spies that have to keep them safe.” Luka explained, voice a whisper. “They’re scattered about outside, but there are mean elves and sprites that’ll make us do things to get them. Still think you’re up for it?”

Miku nodded. She stood up and led Luka outside to a fairly sized backyard had a large oak tree. Protruding from the oak tree were branches that were significantly far from the ground, leading up to a high one from which a rope swing hung. The branches were increasing in height, and close enough together so that someone could jump from one to the next. Luka motioned for Miku to come, and asked for her to help her up. After that, she struggled up onto the tree branch and reached down to help Miku get onto the branch. fearlessly leapt from branch to branch to reach the swing, and then as opposed to sitting on the swing’s branch, she continued to climb.

Finally reaching the highest branch before the tree swing, Miku stood and watched as the other little girl ascended.

“That’s not very safe Luka!” she called.

“No,” came a voice, “But I have to save the heirs to the royal throne!”

After a moment’s thought, Miku slowly began to climb the tree, thinking that if Luka could do it, it had to be safe. She climbed until the branches got very thin, arms growing weak, and then stopped on a branch that she saw Luka standing on. Luka motioned for her to approach, epic quest momentarily forgotten.

“Isn’t it cool?” she asked, pointing at how high they were from the ground.

“Yeah.” responded Miku, noting how tiny the backyard appeared. She heard a sickening crack and instinctively backed up to the base of the tree. Luka had ventured out to the end of the branch and suddenly changed her mind as she heard the crack, running back towards Miku. The branch gave way at the middle, and Miku leapt and reached out, catching Luka’s hand. The weight of the falling girl would have pulled her off of the tree as well if she hadn’t been wedged between two branches. Instead, her arms just hurt tremendously. Regardless, she did not have the strength to pull Luka up by herself. Luka knew this, and stepped in a knot in the tree, letting go of Miku’s arm with one hand and grabbing onto a lower branch with the other. She then let go entirely and climbed onto that branch. Miku hadn’t realized that she was crying, but they both were. Eventually they climbed down, and stayed on the couch for the remainder of the evening, only venturing away when it was time to eat. When Rin and Len made an appearance, Miku made a polite but tired introduction to a somber Luka, and they sensed something wrong and ran off to play elsewhere.

**7 years of age: October**

“Miku! Hey, Miku!” Miku turned her head to see Luka waving at her and running, followed closely by her aunt. The teal-haired girl approached her ecstatic friend, and she and her father joined them on the walk down to the amusement park. Luka was bouncing excitedly, and so Miku joined her. Both children hopped until Miku’s father ordered her to calm down, slowing them both to a walk. A third adult, this one younger than either guardian, approached them with a smile. Miku’s father and Luka’s aunt shook hands with the woman and introduced her to the children as their babysitter. The woman pet a smiling Miku on her scruffy teal-haired head, but Luka gave the woman one look that told her precisely what would happen to her if she tried to touch her.

The babysitter took a smiling Miku and an annoyed-looking Luka through all of the rides for children their age, which had been made into fake haunted houses and other ‘scary’ attractions for the occasion of Halloween. After grabbing lunch, the babysitter took them into the restrooms and had them wait for her just outside. Luka sat next to Miku on the bench, kicking her feet back and forth before she got bored. Extending an arm, she poked her neighboring friend. Miku turned her head to regard Luka.

“What?” she asked.

“The kids’ rides here are boring.” said Luka, “If we go real fast, I think we can get on one of the adult ones and back before she gets out of the restroom.”

“Luka!” exclaimed Miku, looking appalled.

“What?” responded Luka.

“That’s mean and we could get in a lot of trouble!” Miku reasoned.

“Exactly.” said Luka, “That’s how people grow up. We do things without adults that make adults angry. But this time, we might not get caught too, so it’s even better!” she concluded.

“Why do we want to grow up?” asked Miku.

“Because then we can do more fun stuff that adults might not agree with.” explained Luka. And so it was that they found themselves running to a horror ride. Luka motioned for Miku to follow, and there was a fortunate lack of people waiting in line. It was a tunnel ride that had been repurposed into a horror ride for Halloween, and both aspects had been unappealing to various people. There were no attendants around to help anyone get into the boats, and so it was remarkably unsafe, which added to the horror of the situation.

Luka and Miku got into the run-down boat and watched as it automatically moved forward into the tunnel. At first, the decorations surrounding them consisted of hearts and romantic things, to which both children dramatically grimaced. Then, things started to get frightening. First, the hearts and romantic decorations became increasingly broken down, unpainted and shabby looking. Miku leaned forward, intrigued, but Luka pulled her backwards onto the seat and secured both of their seat belts entirely, displaying uncharacteristic signs of concern. Then, a man’s voice came over an intercom.

“Hello to all of the riders on: The Tunnel of Horror, there has been a mishap in the wiring of-” static interrupted the speaker momentarily, “So please, if you see any-” static played again, “make certain to avoid it or them at all costs, we are trying to sort this out. If the ride begins to move on its own,” static completely covered the message, and it dulled to a stop. The romantic lighting dimmed further so that only shafts of sunlight peeping through the ceiling lit the musty room. That was when they heard a click, and their seats slowly began to move backwards. Luka clutched Miku’s arm for reassurance and Miku looked on, afraid but curious. She could logically remember that since the people before them had gone into the same room for about two minutes before they were allowed entry, that this happened to everyone and was probably part of the ride. Just as she was about to convey this thought to Luka, the ride flew backwards on a different path than they had started on.

Luka let out a yelp, grabbing onto Miku for dear life as the two of them shot backwards down a dark tunnel. The cart slowed down, it was pitch blackness.

“Miku?” asked a tiny voice.

“Yes, Luka?” responded Miku.

“I just wanted to know you were still here.”

“Luka, this is just the ride. The man on the radio was probably an actor, or someone who works here.” Miku tried to reassure her shaking friend. She felt Luka nod against her arm, but received no verbal response. It was then that she heard the growling of either a prop or an actor. Dim lights filtered on around them, and they could see what looked like multiple torture devices. Luka tried to raise her head, but Miku, knowing better, gently pushed it back down with the palm of her hand.

“It’s just more props to try to scare you.” she explained, removing her hand. Luka nodded, and did not raise her head. Miku, still frightened by the graphically depicted torture weapons, lowered her head as well and squeezed her eyes shut. They sat like that until the ride slowly began to creak to life, when Miku raised her head slightly and cracked open and eye. Immediately wishing that she had not taken a glance, Miku quickly returned her head to its original position and shut her eyes, feeling the ride begin to take up speed. It shot to life and there was a chase, which the two young children got through with closed eyes and lowered heads, clinging to one another for dear life. Miku peeked around when the ride finally ended and pulled a trembling Luka to her feet. They sat on a bench for a minute and calmed down, before Miku remembered the abandoned babysitter and convinced Luka to find her again. The ride had felt long, but in actuality only lasted about five minutes, and they managed to find a terrified babysitter not far from the restrooms, asking an assistant whether or not she had seen the kids.

 

**Miku: 7, Luka: 8, January**

Stumbling into Luka’s house, Miku carried a sizable heap of presents for her friend. She crashed into a wall before Luka’s aunt hurriedly came to take some of the presents from her and set them in the kitchen. Luka ran in to meet her friend and they both went up to her room, Miku taking one of her presents with her without her parent’s knowledge.

“You’ll get a whole present more than I do though,” Miku was fake whining, “because I met you a month after my birthday.”

“Ah, but y’see, I thought of that.” said Luka, crawling to her bed and pulling something out from under it.

“I wasn’t actually sad!” exclaimed Miku.

“I know, I know.” responded Luka, retrieving a small package, “Still, I got you something because I thought you’d like it.” She exchanged presents with Miku and they were both really happy with what they received.

“Well.” said Miku, turning her nose upwards, “I’ll have you know this means war.” When met with a confused stare from Luka, Miku responded, “I can’t properly let you give me something on your birthday without then giving you something even better on my birthday.” It was through that interaction that Miku and Luka began exchanging gifts on one another’s birthdays. After a while, Luka and Miku were called downstairs to greet other partygoers. With a roll of her eyes, Luka took Miku downstairs and introduced her to Gakupo and Gumi, children that had just moved in across the street. Miku met them cheerily and took to them right away. Luka agreed to play with them, but after a while, she gathered Gumi and Miku to plot against Gakupo, and a play-fight broke out. Miku decided that she liked Gakupo even though he was a bit scary looking at first, and played with everyone really well, but Luka appeared to have her doubts about the older boy.

Once Gakupo and Gumi left, Miku fell to her knees and dramatically begged her father for a sleepover as Luka did the same with her aunt. Both guardians were more than happy to comply and Miku’s father playfully scolded her before heading home. Luka’s aunt responsibly put both of them to bed before ten, but everyone knew that they would not be staying there for incredibly long. The second that they heard the older woman’s footsteps turn around a corner, Luka was wide awake and with a plan.

“Alright.” she said to Miku, who rolled off of the bed to follow Luka to a closet. The closet was filled with more blankets than Miku thought it possible to possess.

“I’ve been getting them from around the house for all of this month.” Luka explained, pulling a few of them out. Behind them, multiple books were stacked. “I’m planning on making a blanket fort that goes across all of this floor. Can you start building in the kitchen, and I can start building in my room, and we’ll meet in the middle?” Luka half-asked half-declared. Miku nodded. They both waited until they heard the final light click off, and then carted half of the blankets to the kitchen, where Miku began to work. Over the course of an hour, the two girls silently built their fort. Miku finished slightly earlier than Luka, who had to find more blankets because she hadn’t enough to cover as much area as she had thought.

Sitting in the middle of the blanket fort, Luka got a lantern and placed it upon a throw pillow, while Miku observed, wondering what it was that she was doing.

“Miku.” said Luka, speaking in a deep voice with the hood of her hoodie pulled over her head.

“Yes?” Miku giggled quietly, trying not to wake Luka’s aunt.

“If you choose to accept it, I dub thee, my best friend.” she said in the same deep voice, grabbing a tiny wooden sword that she had brought with her.

“Of course!” responded Miku, falling back onto the well-pillowed floor. She sat back up and Luka tried to imitate the knighting ceremony that she had seen on television, accidentally dropping the wooden sword onto the pillows halfway through.

“Good enough.” she decided. “We can be best friends now.”

“I don’t think that there needs to be a gathering to decide that.” said Miku, picking up the wooden sword and doing the same to Luka. They played for a while before hearing the opening of a door and falling silent. Almost instantly, there was a loud thud and a complaint from Luka’s aunt, who had gotten up to retrieve a glass of water without being aware of the blanket fort. A considerable amount of scolding and cleaning later, the girls were back in Luka’s bedroom, whispering back and forth until they fell asleep. After all, it was not as if they could know yet of the painful years that would follow.


	2. Second Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just a heads up, this chapter gets pretty dark. I'm gonna warn you, there are implications of emotional abuse and mentions of physical abuse, as well as implied parental alcohol abuse. None of these things are solidified in the chapter, but if these are things that can trigger you, skipping this prologue is recommended.

**12 years of age: July**

Miku pulled herself out of the water and sat on the muddy shore, beginning the long and arduous process of drying her hair. Staring into space for a moment, she pondered recent events, lost deep in thought until she was disturbed by a wet hand being placed upon her shoulder to gain her attention. turning her head silently, she was met with ice blue eyes.

“Hey,” said Luka, siting down and beginning to strain her hair in an attempt to dry it, “are you alright?”

Miku did not respond initially, but thought about the way to respond. had things gone normally for the past few months, she would not have hesitated to tell Luka otherwise.  
“I don’t...” she began, being interrupted by Luka before she could complete her incomplete thought.

“I know something’s wrong. You never make that face. Will you tell me?” asked Luka. Miku furrowed her brow and broke eye contact, staring into the mud between her toes. After a while, she spoke.

“Well... I just...” she began, “ I know a lot of people in school, and I have a few friends there... And... I... it’s just...” she spoke with her hands, but for a while, could form no actual words. “It’s just that I’m not me when I’m around them. It’s...it’s tough, y’see. I... It’s not like those movies, where someone is always fake when they’re around their friends. It’s like... I don’t know... But that’s not what’s making me sad.” Miku looked up with a newfound determination, turning back to Luka, “Luka, it’s that in school, I have these friends who hurt me. Like, they... I don’t know, it’s like I genuinely try to be myself around them, but if I ever express having a deeper side to myself, they get really angry at me... I was afraid of telling you because everyone gets angry at me when I try to talk about myself.”

“Even your friends?” interjected Luka.

“Especially my friends. I just... It’s gotten to the point where I feel guilty even expressing discontent with the way they act.” responded Miku.

“Well they’re just bad then.” decided Luka, “If that’s how friends are supposed to work then so be it, but I am your best friend, so I’m different. You can talk to me always. Besides, you listen to me when I cry, and I mean friendship is about mutuality.” She got to her feet and wiped some of the mud off of herself, extending a hand and pulling Miku up as well.

**13 years of age: February**

Running into Luka’s house through the pouring rain, Miku closed the door behind her and slowly slid down the wall, sitting with her back to the door and her head down. Luka’s aunt came hurriedly and got her a towel to dry off, fussing about her muddy shoes and sending her up to visit Luka. When Miku entered the room of her friend, tear stains were still evident on her face and she found the embrace of understanding arms. They both sobbed to one another before finally calming down. Sitting upon Luka’s bed and viewing the pouring rain through a large window, they were silent for a while.

“So...” said Luka, “ Do you want to go first? I think I need to pull myself together a little before I speak anyway...” Miku nodded and wiped a stray tear from her face, sitting with her back against a wall.

“I was in school today. It’s not like these things don’t happen often, but this one,” her voice broke and she cleared her throat for a minute, “this one really shook me.” Luka nodded and offered another hug for both of their sakes before Miku continued.

_Miku entered the school, taking a deep breath and finding somewhere new in the classroom to hide from her friends for just a bit longer. As more and more children filtered into the classroom, her friends spotted her out and came over to her. She felt the same sense of sickened dread and playfulness that she always felt when they saw her. Throwing on an imaginary mask, Miku smiled up to them as they joined her to the left of where the teacher would be presenting. Sitting up straight, Miku felt herself feign enjoyment to the point where even she was fooled as she took her few classes, which went by pretty uneventfully. The first problems began at lunch. They walked into the lunchroom, which would be shared by the grades fifth through eighth, when she sat down at their table and pulled a hood over her head for support. A friend pushed into her side accidentally, and she scooted backwards instinctively._  
“Sorry...” she muttered quietly, “I’m really afraid of being touched by most people...”

“Why?” asked her friend.

“Umm... I was... I was in a grocery store and I was walking down an isle, and my dad made me go alone to get something... So I went and there was this man there and I thought nothing of it before he came and... and he touched me. Like... he touched me really hard where I don’t want to be touched. It felt really disgusting, and it wasn’t nearly the first time... Now whenever I’m touched by almost anybody, I feel really disgusted.” Miku explained, leaving the details out. She remembered the man’s eyes, the whites of his eyes and how they were widened and full of a terrifying craziness that would be their little secret. She remembered the strange noise he was making and how he had vanished and left her standing by the frozen foods, violated and confused.

“But... C’mon. Miku. I’m your friend.” was the response, voice laced with offended disbelief. “I can touch you.” he then put extra effort into making physical contact with Miku for the remainder of the lunch period until she had to stand up and excuse herself so that she could run to the restroom and vomit. Shaking on the floor of the school bathrooms, Miku finally stood up, feeling cold and slightly hungry. She heard a bell that signified the end of lunch and left the room, getting in line a few people before her friend and walking into her classroom to conclude the day. She tried to leave the classroom as soon as possible, but the same friend as before caught her sleeve.

“Hey, you avoided me at lunch.” he said. Miku did not know how to respond. If she told the truth, he would be offended, if she agreed with the lies he was spinning, he would be offended and she would not have justice.

“No, I was feeling unwell.” she explained, “I got sick, but did not wish to go home.” Mentally, she asked herself why even her fake happiness was no longer there to fool her. Instead of feeling the mask, she felt like a cornered animal, similar to how she felt when at home reflecting upon her friendly interactions.

“You got sick after I touched you.” stated her friend, clearly offended.

“Yeah... after what the man in the grocery store did, I feel really sick when I’m touched by most people.” she explained again, mentally reciting that it usually provokes illness both mentally and physically.

“Well look, not everybody is like the man in the grocery store. I’m your friend, and you should feel happy when I touch you.” he explained.

“I know.” responded Miku, keeping the remainder of the thought to herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to let him touch her, it was that she could physically not be touched without feeling sick, excluding a few people.

“And it’s really offensive to me that you should take it this way.” her friend continued.

“I know and I’m sorry.” said Miku, trying not to cry.

“So let’s hug and make up.” said her friend, extending his arms. Miku gingerly gave him a hug, and he squeezed her tightly, almost causing her to get sick on him. She then pretended not to feel sick nor sad until they parted ways, and sprinted to the nearest restroom to forfeit the rest of her lunch and cry. She exited the school, not realizing that it was pouring rain until it was too late, and sprinted to Luka’s house, as they had agreed to a sleepover the day before. 

Miku finished telling her story, leaning back against the wall and watching the rain against Luka’s window. Luka had reached over and turned on two lamps to keep the room well lit while listening to the story.

“I’m really sorry.” said Luka, quite shaken, “Did it make you feel sick when I hugged you too?”

“No,” responded Miku, extending an arm into which her friend leaned, “I didn’t want to tell him, but I’m fine being touched by anyone that I actually trust and quite like giving and receiving hugs from a select number of people, one of which is you.”

“Well I can say the same for you then.” said Luka resting her head upon that of her friend. “Tell me if I ever make you uncomfortable though."

“Yeah, thanks,” Miku yawned, “The same goes for you. Now, what did you have to say?”

“Oh,” Luka sighed, staring out of her window, “ I guess you’ll find out soon enough anyway...”

“Find out what?” Miku shifted her position slightly, “What’s wrong? I’m here to listen.” Luka was silent for a moment.

“My aunt and your father don’t want to hang out that much anymore, and I’m not going to live that close to the school...” she said, so quietly that Miku almost didn’t hear.

“I’m sure we’ll still be able to talk and come over, I’ll just come over without my dad and you can come over without your aunt, right? No matter what, I’ll always return to you. I’m your best friend.” said Miku.

“And I’ll always return to you as well...” muttered Luka, not entirely reassured. They spoke of other, lighter topics, until they were called downstairs for dinner.

**14 years of age: January**

Miku walked into her house, making certain to get to her room before tossing her backpack aside and pulling a long present out of it. She picked up the phone and sent Luka a fifteenth and allegedly final happy birthday text before leaving to find her father, sitting before a computer. After a few minutes, he pulled his headphones off and turned to regard his daughter.  
“Hey umm... today’s Luka’s birthday. I was wondering if I could go to see her?” Miku finished the final statement as if it were a question, made nervous by the stare she was getting from her father.

“Well I can’t just call over with so little warning, that’d be rude.” he said finally, returning to his game.

“I said that I’d be interested every day for the past month...” muttered Miku, officially frightened by the stance that her father was taking despite the words that came from her mouth. She could see in his face that he wanted to drop the topic, but couldn’t stand not to push a little further to see the only source of happiness that her life had to offer.

“Well I didn’t call over, so you should have reminded me.” said her father, sliding his headphones back on. He wasn’t listening, but it was for the best considering the amount of empty beer bottles sitting besides his computer monitor. It was far better than being yelled at or hit again. She thanked him and prepared to leave when he pulled his headphones off.

“What?” he asked, voice dangerously low. He hated to be distracted during his gaming sessions.

“I said thanks.” responded Miku, instantly realizing her mistake for saying the words ‘I said.’ Her father stared her down for another minute and then nodded, dismissing her and returning to his game. With a breath of relief that she made certain was inaudible, Miku returned to her room. She had received a text from Luka.

“ _My aunt says you can’t come over :(_ ” it read.

“ _Yeah. I spoke to my father and he said he wouldn’t take me too. :(_ “ she responded, “ _But enjoy your birthday, alright?_ ” she set the phone back on the table and sat back. She had finished her remarkably simple schoolwork in school and had very little to do besides wait in silence for something to happen. She ignored the morning’s events as best as possible and focused instead on her friend, frowning. There had been... this _feeling_. Something that she had been ignoring for a few months before her father stopped letting her see Luka. It was a happiness that made her feel ugly and wretched, for she certainly did not deserve to feel it. The promise that she had made to Luka had been a sincerity that she had rehearsed mentally for days on end. She was surprised out of her thoughts by another message.

“I think my aunt might take my phone away too, but I’m hoping that she won’t.” said Luka.

“My dad has been making similar threats, but I think we should still be able to communicate somehow.” Miku responded.

“Still I don’t know what I’m going to do if I can’t talk to you I mean you’re my best friend.” the response was almost instant.

“I feel exactly the same.” Miku typed, “But I mean we’ll always fine some way to come back to one another. I mean when we’re adults then other adults can’t really tell us not to.” On the other end of the line, Luka punched the fabric of her bed.

“Yeah, but that’s so long from now.” she sent in frustration, rolling onto her back. She furrowed her brow and waited for a response.

“I know, but it’s better than never.” sent Miku. Luka glared at her door, almost daring her aunt to walk in, before responding.

“Definitely! I don’t know what I would do if I could never see you ever.” she sent, still frustrated, “but still I want to be able to see you now, I don’t want to have to wait.”

“ Well, I can second that.” was the response, “ Unfortunately it’s not our decision to make right now.” Luka threw her phone onto her bed, staring at the ceiling for a minute. It hadn’t taken her much time to realize that she needed to be around Miku in order to perform such a simple task as breathing properly, and it had taken even less for her to realize that Miku most likely did not feel the same. Picking her phone back up, she responded.

“So besides that, what’s up with you?” she asked. A conversation began. It was not under ideal circumstances, but they both enjoyed it nonetheless. It was two weeks later when both of the girls’ guardians decided that it would be wise to break off all contact between their children.

**14 years of age: August**

“Please?” she whispers in a broken voice, a frail frame sitting upon its bed and staring into nothingness. She hated herself for the addicting love that she felt for her best friend, and hated herself even more for the fact that she could not have been there, even for the birthday of such a special person. Miku recounted on how she had been entirely unable to convince her father to let her see Luka on her birthday, and how many times her best friend had been there for her when she simply hadn’t. Allowing a harsh sob to tear her apart mentally, Miku whispered a silent plea again, knowing that it would go unheard. She sat in her room upon a bed, staring out of a curtained window at a world that she wished she could melt into and disappear.

Her father was moving about the house, doing various chores. Every footstep that he took caused her to cringe, as she feared that he would suddenly decide to find her and torture her with his cruel, thoughtless words. Undoubtably, she would be told once again how she did not love him properly, he would once again make her feel guilty for disliking his abuse. All that she could do was to cower in her room, feeling disgusting every time that she thought of the only source of hope that she could seem to find.

Similarly, Luka sat in her room, eyes downcast as she tossed a second present into the corner of her room, where she had placed the one that she had bought for Miku on her own birthday. Bitterly, she wondered if Miku even liked the same things anymore. Simple months before, she would have been able to answer every single question asked about Miku as if she were Miku herself, whereas now she was just left to wonder, slowly and painfully feeling their ties being severed. Smiling to herself, Luka was at least reassured that Miku was most likely not thinking about her in the least. Her best friend was probably occupied with Gumi, or Rin and Len, and was not tasked with pondering the time that she had shared with Luka.

Luka got up and paced around her room, wishing for her phone back but knowing that her aunt would never allow her any communication with Miku, for fear of communicating with her father. She walked over and rooted around, searching for something with which she could entertain herself. Coming up with nothing, she wrote a brief letter to Miku and put it with the presents on an ever accumulating pile of text and went to bed.

**15 years of age: February**

Miku ran home, letting the distance that she put between herself and that cursed school wash away the memories of what had happened that day. She entered her house and went straight to her room, already knowing that she would regret skipping lunch seeing as she would have no dinner nor breakfast if she could have her way. Throwing herself onto her bed, she tried to fall asleep, but memories of the day at school would not leave her alone. She slowly began to cry as silently as possible, for fear that her father would hear her and use it as an excuse to enter her room. Miku did not know why she was simply so worthless to every human that she came across.

The first time that she had been treated unkindly, she had gotten angry. However, more and more people that she had put her trust in began to assault her both physically and verbally. As this continued, she began to accept it as a fact that she had been wrong and was simply so worthless that those who loved her at first would learn to hate her once they got to know her. As her crying intensified, she muffled herself with a pillow and tried not to remember what had happened that day. She usually ended the night by crying herself to sleep, but that day had been particularly awful in its own special way.

_Once he hit her enough, she fell to the ground and began crying, as usual. This time, however, when she started to cry, it only made her friend angrier. He then began to yell at her, finishing off with a kick in the stomach, when Miku finally apologized for being dramatic. He said it was alright and went inside, leaving Miku to pick herself up again._ She also remembered that her father had loved her once, and wondered why he no longer appeared to care for her at all. Sitting alone, she briefly thought of Luka, but hastily shoved that thought out of her mind. A filthy individual such as herself did not deserve to feel what she felt for Luka. In all actuality, Luka was probably purposefully leaving her because she realized how worthless Miku truly was. Years passed like this, and Miku eventually forced herself to sever bonds with Luka for her own sanity, becoming quiet and reserved, and isolating herself from the people who hurt her, moving to work alone.

**16 years of age: August**

The present was heavy in her hands. Luka glanced at the wall, suddenly filled with rage at her aunt, and threw it onto the pile, hearing something break. Still angry, she paced around her room for a while before calming down. She was so angry at the love that she still felt for a person who she would be forever forbidden to see. In frustration, she almost let out a cry of anger, but remembered that her aunt was in the house and finding some other way to express the pain that she felt. Picking up a piece of journal paper, she angrily scribbled a few rough lyrics, before slowly calming down and becoming immersed in her song. Hiding her paper well under her mattress with the others, Luka remembered throwing the present and walked slowly, cautiously over to the pile.

She gingerly lifted up the present that she had thrown, opening it and looking in dismay to see that she had broken the gift that she had gotten for her old friend. Hands trembling, she sat with her back to the wall and set the present down, curling up and allowing herself to cry in short, jagged breaths. She felt so out of place, even surrounded by friends who quite clearly cared about her. Each of them was remarkably nice, but she still guiltily missed the person that she had once been allowed to call her best friend. She remembered forcing herself to realize that she and Miku could not be considered best friends anymore. She remembered forcing herself to let go of the idea that they would ever actually see one another again. She remembered trying so desperately hard to get rid of the painful love that she felt for someone that she knew she would never see again, but it was still there. Bowing her head, Luka sobbed until she calmed down and quietly fell asleep.

 

End of prologue.


	3. Reacquainted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The angst is over, for now. Let's get reacquainted with Miku, and meet some characters who I had some serious fun writing.

The sound of gravel beneath tires churned in a tired Miku’s ears as she pulled off of a moderately old road and into a pavilion. Driving to the third floor, where the students would park, she walked to an office, cleaning herself up before taking a picture and paying for her college ID. She received her room key and returned to her car, grabbing whatever baggage she had and bringing it to her dorm room. It was still the afternoon by the time that she had set up her dorm, and so she decided to leave in search of any good food places or hangout spots. The instant that she stepped outside of her dorm, she regretted it.

“You’ll never catch me alive!” a yellow blur sped past her and hid behind her. Miku turned to see a tall blonde woman crouching behind her for cover. Eventually, the woman stopped peering from behind Miku and looked up to meet her eyes.

“Hi.” she said simply, returning her eyes to the road. As if on cue, a boy with blue hair flew around the corner, looking around wildly.

“Masuda!” he growled.

“You called?” sang the woman, crouching behind Miku. Unlike the woman, the boy appeared to understand that Miku was not a wall, and snapped momentarily out of his murderous daze.

“I apologize for this nuisance. Her name is Lily, and she has absolutely no sense of shame.” he said, walking up to her. Miku nodded and smiled reassuringly, although she was still very uncomfortable. “My name is Kaito,” the boy continued, extending a hand, “and I am pleased to-” before he could finish his sentence, the woman darted out from behind Miku and ran behind the dorm building for cover, successfully distracting the young man.

“I’m really sorry for this.” he hastily apologized, sprinting after her, “Darn it Masuda get back here with my bear!”

Miku looked on for a minute, dazed, before she continued on her journey in search of food. After a bit of looking around, she came across a moderately empty café and decided that it was a good place. She eyed the menu for a while before deciding upon an espresso and lemon cake. She took them to a table near a window that was directly next to the entrance, pulling out her book and beginning to read. The doorbell dinged, and Miku was startled out of her book-induced stupor, looking up to see the culprit.

“Oh... hey!” said culprit strode right over to Miku and plopped down in the chair across from her. It was the woman from before, Lily.

“Hello.” greeted Miku.

“I was...” Lily panted, still sweating from a run, “was running here... Not...not many people come here and so I thought he’d...he’d never find me.”

“Why did you steal his bear?” asked Miku. Lily regained her breath for a minute before responding.

“Seemed like a pretty great idea at the time.” she shrugged, plucking a deep royal blue bear from her satchel and placing it on the table. Not seconds later, the boy ran into the café. Lily reached for the bear, but Miku already had it.

“Kaito, was it?” she asked. He nodded and reached out his arm as Miku passed his bear back to him. Lily looked on in awestruck horror as the betrayal of the stranger struck her heart like a brutal wounding blow from an unfeeling executioner.

“Thanks.” said Kaito. He looked as if he were about to say more, but Lily was giving him a look, and he just left instead. The second that he was gone, Lily collapsed onto the table dramatically.

“Betrayed!” she wailed, ignoring the glances from the various strangers in the café, “And by a stranger, the only person that I had thought could be trusted with the true depths of my twisted, unlovable soul...” Miku tried to intervene, but could not get a word in before Lily continued. “Never again shall I go so far as to truly believe in the kindness of a stranger, for which in this case my heart has been skewered by the unforeseen cruelty that lied therein...” Lily sat up suddenly, as if forgetting the pain that she had so eloquently expressed moments before. “So, is this place nice? ‘ Only came here because I knew it would be relatively empty.” Miku had no words. “Oh, I’m from the acting department, by the way. I do music and acting, although usually not as such a caricature... I just like to exaggerate things a lot. I wasn’t actually severely wounded or anything.”

“Ah...” said Miku, hesitantly taking a sip of her espresso, almost provoking laughter from Lily. “I only just moved in-”

“Frooooosh!” cheered Lily, throwing her hands in the air and attracting the attention of many surrounding café dwellers. Miku cocked her head to the side. “Frosh. It’s a term for freshman.” Lily explained. “I mean I’m a freshman as well, but I’ve always lived nearby, so I get the privilege of being more experienced than even some of the seniors. Sort of. Not really.”

“I see. Well I haven’t been here long, so I can’t say if this place is nice. It makes great espresso, though.” she sipped the beverage happily. After another moment of silence, Lily sighed dramatically and spoke again.

“Right well, as self-assigned leader of the FIT, Frosh Initiation Team, party of me, I am designating you as ‘she who shall be taken under mine great wing.’ So what do I call you?” She paused before leaning forward, fluttering her eyelashes in a way that almost made Miku break out laughing, “Besides breathtakingly adorable, I mean.”

“My name’s Miku.” she responded, putting considerable effort into refraining from giggling. She stared down into her espresso, which immediately prompted a response from Lily.

“Ooh! Rookie mistake.” chimed the woman, “Staring into your drink tells your confronter that he, she, they, or whatever have won and usually tells them to act further.” she said knowledgeably, “If I were you, I would suggest an alternative of maintaining eye contact and deadpanning something.” Feeling challenged, Miku raised her eyes to meet Lily’s. After a long pause, she spoke.

“Something.” she said, in the flattest deadpan humanly possible. Lily broke out into laughter despite the general humorlessness of the joke, and Miku kept staring her down.

“Okay it’s not a staring contest anymore if you get the other person to laugh.” Lily explained, quieting down. They continued to talk loudly and excitedly about everything and nothing, talking about their lives and what had brought them to the university. Many times Miku skimmed over the topic of Luka, but after prying a few times, Lily realized that it was a subject that was not to be joked about. They headed back to the dorms together and Miku fell asleep, no longer feeling entirely alone. It was very early the following day that she heard a loud, aggressive knocking on her door. Glancing up, Miku made herself decent and went to answer, seeing nothing but a purple blur speeding around a corner. Putting some shoes on, a curious Miku pursued the figure, half-expecting Lily.

She heard heavy footsteps pounding against the floor behind her and saw a silent woman with brown hair speed past her, a look of murder in her narrowed mahogany eyes. Following closely, she heard a crash.

“Stop meddling in the girls’ dorm, Kamui.” the woman whispered, holding the purple-haired man by his ponytail while keeping him pinned to the ground under her foot. “It is early, inappropriate, and I will not hesitate to report you if I find out that you have done it again.” She stood up and followed him down a few flights of stairs and outside, snatching the girls’ dorm student ID that he had somehow obtained and closing the door behind him. When she returned upstairs, she was greeted with a confused and exceptionally tired Miku, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” she asked. “My name’s Meiko. That was Gakupo Kamui. He’s not necessarily a bad kid, but he gets these ideas in his head, and is smart enough and sly enough to carry them out...”

Miku kept her eyes downcast, remembering Gakupo, but not wanting to reestablish her friendship with him. She could imagine Lily looking on in horror as her instructions were directly ignored, but didn’t truly care.

“Hey, you seem tired. I’ll walk you back to wherever you came from.” Meiko decided. The rest of the walk was spent in exhausted silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They waved goodbye to one another and Miku closed the door and locked it, falling asleep almost immediately.

The second time that there was a knocking on the door, Miku did not answer.

“Hey pigtails!” a familiar voice called. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking to see that her clock said 7:00 am, Miku opened the door to see a smiling and entirely awake Lily. They hung out in her room for a while, and Lily told her what she should hang up and what she should not, sharing her ‘vast’ knowledge of college dorms and helping Miku know how much space was too much space to take up with belongings from home. Lily occupied the empty bed across from Miku’s, lying on her back with her legs resting against the wall as she read an adventure novel. Miku briefly spoke with Lily about what she had packed for the university, and Lily stated multiple times that she had absolutely everything that she needed in a manner that was not very reassuring. That week flew by as Miku slowly got to know various college dwellers of varying ages. She often went to the tiny café and read.

 

_Ding!_

Chiming merrily, the doorbell quietly alerted those in the cafe that someone had just entered. Two teal eyes barely darting up from a book to look at the source of the noise, Miku didn’t even bother to note whoever had walked in, watching the moving bell and returning to her novel. She read it in depth, easily becoming immersed in the author’s beautiful eloquence, practically standing besides the protagonists as they took every baited breath on the path to solving their mystery. She did not keep track of how much time had passed, simply reading her book and stopping for the occasional sip of espresso.

The woman that had entered the café looked around, eyeing first the menu and then having her eye caught by the brightly colored teal hair of the woman who sat near the door. She cocked her head to the side before taking a step towards the teal-haired woman, reconsidering her decision, and stepping back into line. As the line slowly dragged itself forward, she kept glancing over at the woman, who appeared to be almost one and the same with the book that she was reading. Conflicted, she almost didn’t hear the man behind the counter clearing his throat.

“Oh! Sorry,” she exclaimed, “I’ll have a Coffee Americana with as much sugar and cream as you can cram into it.” The man behind the counter looked tiredly at the machine, and Luka instantly apologized. “Sorry, please four sugar and three creams.” looking relieved, the young man prepared her coffee. Luka moved out of the way so that the next person could have their order taken and shot another glance over at the teal-haired girl, who she was certain had to be her childhood friend. Tapping her foot three times, she heard the young man from before call out to her, thanked him excessively for the coffee, and hesitantly walked over to where the young woman sat, practically being eaten by her novel. Luka moved towards the chair opposite of the young woman but paused, opening her mouth and then closing it. After repeating that process a few times, she finally decided to sit down.

Miku was still immersed in her book, undisturbed by any changes in atmosphere. When the chair opposing hers was pulled out and a person sat upon it, she did not even notice. It was only when someone had said ‘excuse me’ three times that she jumped slightly and looked up, startled out of her novel.

“Hey, sorry.” said the woman sitting across from her, small smile widening as she saw a light of recognition fill the reader’s eyes. “Miku, it is you, right?” asked the woman. Miku nodded slowly, recognizing facial features that she had forced herself to forget. Instantly and shamefully, Miku felt herself filled with the reassurance of familiarity as she recognized the woman before her.

“Don’t you...remember me?” asked the woman, shaking Miku out of her brief train of thought.

“Yes, Luka, of course I remember you.” Miku responded quietly, allowing a tiny smile to grace her lips. At the sight of a smile, Luka’s grin spread and she sat back in her chair.

“Man, what have you been up to since I last saw you? It’s been too many years now. Then again, one was far too many...” Luka muttered.

“Well, I’ve gone through high school...” Miku began, “I took up performing arts and hope to enter the music industry. Actually, I’m here because I’m attending Starspring Heights University. What a-”

“No way!” Miku was interrupted by an excited cry from Luka, “Hey I’m going there too!” she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, placing her coffee mug back upon the small table, “Might or might not have entirely forgotten that the semester started so quickly... In fact I might or might not have driven up this morning, and have yet to actually sign in to whichever dorm I’m assigned to...” she chuckled nervously.

“Luka!” exclaimed Miku, momentarily appalled out of her silence, “We were supposed to start moving in last Monday!”

“Well I’m moving in now, and I’ve had the dorm reserved for the entirety of the year, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Besides...” Luka gave Miku a smile that let her know exactly what she was going to say before she said it. “You’ll be my friend. I don’t know anybody here yet, so I’ll know you, or ... I said something along those lines, once upon a time.”

“Yeah...” responded Miku, staring into her espresso. Instantly, she thought of Lily shaking her head in mock disapproval, and a tiny smirk colored her face. She returned her attention to Luka, and they made light, reserved conversation, recounting what the past had been like spent apart.

“Will you help me move in? See new places, catch new names?” asked Luka, speaking as if she was quite clearly pretending to be pretending to be cool. Miku got up from her seat and followed Luka out of the door. They got into their separate vehicles, and Miku slammed her head softly against the dashboard of her own, eyebrows furrowed.

“So what, I’ll get to see her for another four years before she goes away again?” she asked herself, starting up the car. Driving the short distance to the school was silent and uneventful. Occasionally, she looked behind her to see Luka’s car a little farther back, indicating that the other woman probably did not know her way to the school and had been following her. Miku finally arrived and parked in a large student parking pavilion, waiting for Luka to get out of her own car, lock it with a painful amount of noise, and come to stand in front of her.

“Okay so I’ll take you where you need to go to get registered...” Miku paused, remembering something that she had read. “Wait... isn’t the deadline for registration a half hour from now?” Both of them sprinted down a few floors of the pavilion and out onto the street, darting past many college students until they hastily entered a large building with a wooden interior. Sprinting up a flight of stairs, they came breathlessly to a humungous office, where Luka signed in, obtained a student ID, various college necessities, and a key to her dorm room. She showed the keys to Miku, who’s eyes widened slightly before returning to normal as she passed the key back to Luka.

“That’s an impossible coincidence,” she sighed, “but it makes sense considering my dorm mate had yet to show up.” Luka thought that she heard correctly, but fell a bit behind, eyes asking for confirmation. “We’ve the same room, apparently.”

“Ah yes!” exclaimed Luka, grabbing Miku’s hand and thrusting them up into the air “That is the power of friendship!”

“Or people that pair dorm mates with similar interests and majors...” muttered Miku, smiling nonetheless as she was led out of the building by a woman that absolutely had no idea where she was going. After a few minutes, when Luka finally realized that Miku had to show her where her room was, they took her ample luggage and made it to the room. The room was spacious and well lit, allowing a comfortably bright light to illuminate it during the day time and even the tiniest shreds of moonlight to keep it lit in the night, so long as a curtain was not pulled over it. There were two small but not uncomfortably small beds at opposing sides of the room, beneath which cabinets for clothing sat. Miku helped Luka unload some of her bags on command, interrupted half-way through by a familiar knocking on the door. Springing to her feet and evening the wrinkles out of her clothes, Miku answered the door, recognizing Lily immediately. The woman fell into the room dramatically, pretending to swoon for a brief moment before speaking.

“Miku! I came here earlier, but you had not been here.” she exclaimed dramatically. “Of course my mind had come to the worst conclusion, before which I could do nothing but wonder and worry...” she began improvising at amazing speeds. “It relieves my still-beating heart ever so much that you have returned unscathed from wherever forth that you did venture...”

“What did you need?” asked Miku.

“Came by earlier to see if you had any shampoo.” she responded.

“Lily!” Miku let out an exasperated sigh, “We just spoke about this yesterday. Yes, I have some spare shampoo. I can not believe that you forgot yours after the conversation we had.”

“Didn’t feel like going to buy some either,” said Lily, void of any sheepishness, “thanks.” She followed Miku through the short hallway and paused.

“Oh.” she stated, noticing a staring Luka. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d meet her!” exclaimed Miku, before quieting down, “That’s Luka.” Lily shot her a questioning glance and Miku nodded.

“Nice to meet you in that case. ‘M Lily, you can call me L-Man but if you do I will probably attack you.” As Lily spoke, Miku entered the tiny bathroom that the school somehow afforded to fit in the dorms, returning seconds later with a bottle of shampoo.

“I’m known around campus as-” Noticing Miku’s shampoo, Lily broke off, claiming it from her and holding it close to her heart.“Life saver!” exclaimed Lily, falling to her knees on the ground and extending the shampoo into the air, “Thank you my goddess!” She got back to her feet and waved to Luka. “Nice to meet you!” she said, before exiting the room, “It’s pretty late now and I am super psyched to use this snazzy new shampoo, so I’ll be seeing you. Oh, hey,” Lily reached into her satchel and pulled out a book that Miku recognized immediately, “I almost forgot. I went to that café down the street and saw this. Kinda pictured you pale and contorted in the corner of your dorm, grasping the essence for your missing loved one or something.” she handed the book to Miku, who eagerly nodded and thanked her. Lily left with a wave of her hands and a few friendly words, closing the door behind her. Miku returned to her designated bed, setting the book on a tiny shelf that she had stuck to the wall that sat directly across from her pillow.

She fell backwards onto her bed with a ‘poof’ not particularly tired from the day’s events, but curious and gently excited to see how things would go. Miku pondered over the fact that she had gained a new friend and stumbled upon an old friend, and felt pleased despite herself. She did not hear footsteps, but felt the pressure as a second person sat on the side of her bed. Turning her head to observe Luka, she raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Hey Miku?” asked Luka, sounding entirely serious in one of the only instances that Miku had ever observed over the entirety of her life with her.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Can we... actually be friends again?”

Miku was silent for a moment, genuinely pondering the question at hand.

“I know we’ve both grown and changed, but... I want to be like that,” Luka gestured to the doorway where Lily had just stood, “with you again.”

“Sure.” responded Miku after another pause. She sat up and turned so that she could face Luka better. A tiny but noticeable look of relief crossed the pink-haired woman’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I made myself cry at the reference that Luka made because I forgot that I had written it and hadn't expected it, what have I become XD


	4. Begin

Miku woke up without the sound of Lily’s excessive knocking for the first time in one week. She rolled sleepily onto her side to see that her clock read 7:30 in the morning, and then sat up to stretch off of the side of her bed, yawning slightly as she did so. She fell back onto her bed and drowsily scanned the room, eyes coming to rest with curiosity on the figure of Luka. Furrowing her brow for a brief second, memories from the previous night hit her like a brick wall. Miku sat up again and looked at her friend in disbelief. Someone who she had been missing for almost five years had just shown up without any introduction and walked right back into her life. Upon further consideration, Miku supposed that she shouldn’t have expected anything less of someone who would probably just strut right into a royal household on a whim if she happened to be in the neighborhood.

Nothing would be going on for a while, and they still had one day until the “Official Freshman Initiation” would kick off the school year, so Miku was curious about why Lily had not knocked that morning. Most likely, she supposed, the woman had some sense of shame and wouldn’t go waking up a person that she didn’t know. Regardless, she had used Miku’s body as a wall to protect her from a rampaging Kaito, which made her absence slightly curious, but nothing worth investigating. Yawning and stretching for a final time, Miku cast a glance at Luka and then hopped out of bed, heading to the restroom to get dressed. Although delving even slightly into her deep supply of memories was usually something that she prohibited, Miku remembered that Luka was absolutely never an early riser, and so she would have some time to think and prepare for a probably grouchy teenager to awaken.

Said grouchy teenager rolled quite unceremoniously onto her side and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as the memories from the day before returned to her. Glancing over to the bed of her roommate, she questioned whether or not she had actually stumbled across Miku, and simply happened to have the same dorm room as her old friend. Thinking that it was clearly a dream scenario, Luka vaguely questioned if perhaps Lily had been her roommate before hearing a soft thud and a whispered curse from the restroom. Noting the book that Miku had placed in its rack the night before, Luka cautiously confirmed for herself that she was in fact reunited with her friend at long last. It seemed to her a minor celebration for them to simply get to their dorm room and fall asleep. She recognized a familiar smell and was calmed for a minute, before instantly sitting up and scolding herself.

After spending more time than necessary deciding on something to wear, Miku tucked an excessively long strand of teal hair behind her ear and exited the restroom, stopping in her tracks upon seeing Luka awake. The other woman waved to her, drastically exaggerating the tiredness that she felt.

“Good morning.” Miku responded, recounting mentally on how Luka had practically been the cause of an apocalypse last time she had been up before noon. Luka fell back onto her bed and made a noise quite like a dying animal.

“It is too early.” she stated, staring up at the ceiling.

“What’s your first class?” asked Miku. Luka rooted around in one of her bags for a moment before coming across a surprisingly organized binder, flipping it open to find her schedule.

“First on Tuesday I’ll try to get some exercise...” Luka said. She rolled her eyes in exasperation, “Looks like I have to go to breakfast at seven most days in order to eat before my first class!” she exclaimed. After lightly reviewing both of their schedules, they realized that they had two courses in common excluding breakfast, which made sense based on the fact that they were both planning to major in the same subject and had been assigned dorm mates based on an abundance of similarities. Luka begrudgingly got out of her bed and selected some clothing, going to the restroom to get changed and leaving Miku to her thoughts.

Miku lolled about for a while, not particularly wanting to revisit the memories of her old friend, but feeling both comfortable and unnerved at Luka’s sudden presence in her life. She lay back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and pondering how quickly everything had changed. Moving away from her father was not relieving whatsoever. She understood that he cared for her despite his violent actions, and it had been brought out when he had sadly said his goodbyes. She scrunched her nose up, reflecting on how he had gotten more and more intense with every passing week, yet instantly became sad whenever Miku had not shown him affection. It was complicated because she had so desperately wanted him not to be unhappy whenever he was sad, yet whenever he was not sad, he was lashing out and either physically or verbally harming her.

A loud thud interrupted her thoughts and Miku glanced in the general direction of the restroom, guessing that Luka had also fallen victim to the moderately tight space. After a moment, she got off of her bed to see the woman lying on the ground, not unconscious, but seemingly drained of all interest in standing up. When meeting the questioning stare of Miku, Luka simply sighed before speaking.

“I am not a morning person.” she stated, taking Miku’s offered hand and getting to her feet. Instantly remembering something, Luka took a step back.

“Sorry,” she said, seeming concerned and entirely awake, “Is it alright that I grabbed your hand just then?”

“I offered it to you.” Miku responded, closing the door to the restroom and walking back to the larger area where their beds sat.

“I know, but I thought that you might’ve done it out of habit, and I remembered that you don’t exactly enjoy being touched...” Luka sat down, grabbing socks from one of her drawers and putting them on, “I still stand by what I said, if I ever do anything to make you uncomfortable, please tell me.” 

“Thanks...” muttered Miku, “The same goes for you, of course.”

“Oh trust me.” Luka spoke instantly, “If anyone makes me uncomfortable, they’ll find out very quickly.”

“I’m glad then.” said Miku, sitting on her bed with her back against the wall.

“So, Miku...” Luka began, “If you’ve nowhere else to be, do you want to go to the park?” After a brief moment’s pause, Miku responded affirmatively, and they prepared to leave.

 

 

Slowly, Miku and Luka walked down the concrete sidewalk path, enjoying the gentle warmth that the day had to offer. All around them, children were playing and people were making conversation. Luka spotted the park when she had followed Miku to the school, and made a mental note to pay it a visit.  
“So you ditched him, then?” asked Luka. Miku nodded.  
“I left them all behind after I realized that they were what was holding me down.” she responded, “I always feel as if I might’ve been wrong, but... I never consider returning to them, because my life is so much better now.”

“Oh, but you were so right.” said Luka. “If you had to only speak when spoken to in order to remain friends with them in the first place, they were never right for you. That’s not how friendships work, that’s how employment works if you have a really awful boss. Oh!” Luka noticed a large fountain and came to a stop. The sidewalk went in a large circle around the fountain, spanning out in six different directions. Benches were scattered in between the various sidewalk segments, but no one was around. Luka led Miku over to the large fountain and sat down at its edge, shortly followed by the other woman.

“So Miku...” Luka began cautiously, playing with the water, “I’ve never heard you sing before.”

“I could say the same of you.” Miku responded.

“Yes, well... tell you what. If you sing for me, then I’ll sing for you.” offered Luka. Miku froze.

“Right now?” she asked, glancing around. There weren’t many people yet around the fountain, seeing as it was so early in the morning, but she still felt as if she were being watched. Luka nodded and turned to further regard her.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” she said, “I’m just curious to hear your voice.” They both remembered that, although Miku had displayed mild interest in music during their childhoods, she had never sang in front of an audience, including Luka. Cautiously, Miku stood up from the fountain, moving around a bit and opening and closing her hands.

“I guess I should get used to this anyway.” she decided before launching into song. She began softly, gradually building up to the first chorus and then suddenly getting loud to emphasize her point. Towards the end of the chorus, she got soft again, and the song continued to follow that pattern, only disrupted at the end, when the entire chorus was slowly fading into silence. Luka was quiet for a moment, letting the words of the song sink in.

“I’m thinking that clapping really enthusiastically and cheering your name would be inappropriate given the circumstances,” she began, “but you deserve an entire audience. I can easily say I haven’t heard anything like that before.” Miku nodded and quietly muttered her thanks, going to sit down. Over the course of her song, a few people had moved in and out of the clearing, but she was intent on not stopping. She then turned to look at Luka expectantly.

“What?” asked Luka, shortly before remembering, “Oh yeah.” She stood up, swinging her arms back and forth a few times before beginning her song. As she sang, Miku noted that their styles were quite different considering the songs that they had selected. Luka didn’t begin too quietly, taking confident strides with her voice to prove a point that was directly accusing whoever the song was about. She escalated during the chorus, but suddenly dropped halfway through, before resuming the rest of the song. When she was finished, she finished with a bang, and then came to regard Miku, who also took time considering the words of the song before speaking.

“The way in which you presented both yourself and that song was absolutely perfect.” she said after a short time, “I can’t believe you can keep your voice like that for so long without damaging it, I could never. Great job!” Luka came to sit down, breath slightly labored.

“I guess I was a bit loud...” she muttered, regarding a few of the passers by who had chosen to stay for the show. They began to filter out upon realizing that it was over.

“I thought it was beautiful, though.” Miku spoke her mind.

“Well thanks then... Regardless I need to work on keeping it under control.” Luka noted. There was a short period of silence in which she appeared to be thinking intensely of something. Miku cocked her eyebrow. In response, Luka slowly reached behind them. She dipped her hand into the water and splashed Miku suddenly, innocently returning to her former posture.

“Hey!” Miku exclaimed. Luka regarded her confusedly.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, displaying none of her former mutiny. Miku looked down for a moment.

“I suppose not...” she muttered. After a moment, she quickly reached behind herself and splashed Luka, drenching her. A small war then ensued, resulting in both women being almost entirely soaked when Luka reached too far backwards and fell into the fountain. Making the mistake of laughing to claim her victory, Miku was pulled into the fountain as well, and the war was lost to both of them. Eventually, when they both managed to pull themselves out of the water without slipping, they reclaimed their prior seats and discussed the universe.  
“We haven’t eaten yet.” Luka remembered, straining her shirt as she got to her feet.

“Well we can’t now.” laughed Miku, flicking some water off of herself, “Look at us.”

“Eh. No one will notice.” decided Luka, shrugging her shoulders and motioning to the trail of water that pooled at her feet. Miku nodded in mock agreement, standing up as well and trying to strain her clothing.

“Perhaps we should just go back to the dorm instead and get changed first.” she suggested, and then added under her breath “If I don’t use a hair dryer, I’ll be tracking water around for the next millennium.” Luka nodded vigorously, sending many tiny droplets of water flying everywhere. A light breeze ghosted over the previously warm morning, and both women shivered, hastily beginning their retreat to the depths of their room. Passing a few other students, who did no more than shoot them a confused look and resume their business, they managed to reach their room while only causing minor water damage to the rest of the dorm, hastily getting changed. After the half hour it took for Miku to comb through and successfully dry her hair, during which Luka sat in a nest of towels reading, they were ready to go.

Miku plucked her book out of its stand and placed it in her satchel, following Luka out of the door and locking it behind them. The remainder of the day was spent in moderate laziness. Eventually, they met up with Lily, who appeared to be entirely healthy despite her absence that morning, and then Kaito, who made polite conversation with them until he had to leave and meet a friend.

 

 

Miku sat up in bed, wide awake at seven in the morning despite Lily’s continued absence. She regarded the clock for a brief moment and repeated the previous morning’s rituals, before sliding her legs over the edge of her bed and standing up. After taking a long stretch, she chose her clothing and got dressed. Official Freshman Initiation was going to be held at nine in an ornate wooden building that was usually used for educational debates. Miku had seen it during her brief tours with Lily, which consisted mainly of the other woman randomly sprinting off and Miku ensuring that she didn’t chase yet another cat up a tree or steal any of Kaito’s possessions.  
In a half hour, Luka woke up, precisely as displeased with the time as she had been the previous morning. When she was ready to leave, they went to the park again and walked through it until they reached a diner, not favoring eating in the same place every day. They were making conversation over coffee when Lily spotted them through a large window, waved ecstatically, and invited herself in.

“Oh, well isn’t it just steamy in here. Sorry I couldn’t wake you up today, pigtails.” she said, sitting herself down next to Miku and ruffling the woman’s hair. “I was helping Kaito set up the decorations for the initiation. Gotta admit, the kid has a pretty killer sense of design for someone who wears the same style royal blue tee-shirt every day. Him n’ purple guy can really throw a party. But I needed to be there to ensure that the coolness factor was at its optimality.” she explained, talking with her hands. Miku nodded to signify that she understood, and so Lily turned to Luka, leaning forward on the table.

“So what’s your deal?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” Luka responded.

“Y’know like: Hi, my name is Luka, I major in ‘blank’ and like to eat ‘blank.’ My quirk is that I occasionally dine on the souls of young children.” Lily explained, “That kinda stuff.”

“Ah, alright then. Well I major in Music, just like Miku. I came here because I had been looking forward to a school like this for a long time, and wish to become a professional singer.” said Luka.

“Chill, well I’m Lily the Magnificent, as you already know. And I,” she held her fist in the air, as if making a promise, “I have pledged my soul to the art of acting! Although I’m usually not overly dramatic when I’m actually acting, because I’m pretty serious about it.” she said. As she had been speaking to Luka, Miku had quietly ordered her food from a waiter, who was waiting patiently for Lily to finish. Lily quickly ordered enough food to comfortably sustain a second human race, while Luka ordered the maximum number of pancakes sold.

“So what sports do you do?” asked Lily.

“People usually think that I’m into that sort of thing, but I actually just exercise.” Luka responded. They continued to make light conversation until arriving at the Official Freshman Initiation.

Official Freshman Initiation was longwinded and full of facts that all save few would soon forget. Luka, Lily, Miku, and Kaito all sat at a large oak table to the left of where a bunch of alumni and teachers were taking turns speaking. Lily was fixated on stealing each and every one of Kaito’s pencils individually when he was not looking, and then passing them off to a traitorous Miku, who of course passed them back to Kaito. Luka watched this interaction with curiosity before Miku turned to her, successfully having obtained all of Kaito’s pencils from Lily, who was only just realizing what she had done. Lily silently declared war on Miku, using her own pencils to melodramatically create a very short wall between them ‘for aesthetics.’ Luka motioned for Miku to give her some of the pencils, and she did.

Lily now pretended to have been dealt a blow to the heart before returning to battle, but Luka extended an arm with one of Kaito’s pencils. Miku then took from Lily and slowly acted out the piercing of her heart, falling into her chair and swooning slowly, so as not to alert anyone speaking. But as Lily extended her arm to grab the pencil that Luka had offered, Luka turned her palm downwards and grabbed three of the pencils that Lily had used to make a wall, hastily retreating before Lily could understand her treachery. Spotting her own weakness, Lily quickly withdrew the wall that she had made, putting the pencils close to herself so that no one could easily reach them. She extended a hasty arm when, out of the blue, Kaito whipped his arm out and grabbed Lily’s remaining three pencils.

Lily then proceeded to slowly act out a dramatic death, before they all momentarily turned their attention to a new speaker. Luka then passed all of Kaito’s pencils back to him while Miku and Kaito returned Lily’s to their allegedly rightful owner.

“And so we are overjoyed at your choice in our school, and hope that you find it suitable for your learning needs.” schmoozed one of the speakers. Miku rolled her eyes and shot Luka a glance, receiving a mirrored expression. Luka put on the face of the speaker, appearing as if she were trying to be overly sophisticated. When she pretended to twirl an imaginary mustache, Miku had to look away or risk laughter. Eventually, when the meeting was finally over, she returned her gaze to the woman, and then to Kaito, who had managed to make an elaborate drawing of a man during that time.

Transfixed, she watched his quick hand fly over the paper, sketching out such a realistic image in very little time. She noted as he smudged the paper slightly and displayed the only signs of actual anger that she had ever seen him wear. Luka bumped her arm slightly and she realized that everyone was standing up. Lily snapped Kaito out of his drawing and he hastily cleaned up, shoving the papers into his backpack and running slightly to catch up to the already leaving group of people. Miku fell back slightly as Luka talked with Lily.

“You’re an amazing artist.” she said. He had already been zoning out, and raised his head slightly.

“What?” he asked, “Oh. Thanks!”

“Is that your major?” asked Miku.

“Yeah.” he responded. “Although I want to maybe work in manga, telling stories with my art. I considered a writing major for a while as well, but I feel more into sketches. You major in music?”

“Yeah.” Miku responded, “How’d you know?”

“Hurricane Lily is a... constantly recurring natural disaster, you might say. I hear a lot from her when she’s no one else to talk to.” he answered. Miku nodded, knowing to expect as much. The small group exited the building.

“Miku! Luka! Hey!” a voice called loudly. They turned to see a short green-haired girl running towards them. Miku stood still, watching her approach and not responding.

“Gumi?” she asked after a short moment.

“Came here with my cousin.” Gumi chirped, coming to stand in front of the small group. Miku allowed a smile onto her face, still confused.

“Okay so it looks like I’m going to be the first one to ask.” said Lily, coming forward to stand next to Gumi, petting the young woman on the head, “None of you, not one person in this group, has died their hair?” she asked. Everyone shook their heads. “Not once, right, that’s what I thought. Okay. Just wanted to clarify.” Everyone looked at her confusedly before returning to other conversation.

“I haven’t seen you since your dad took your phone away!” said Gumi. Miku froze, but understood that Gumi had no way of knowing how that event had affected her, and remained friendly.

“Sounds like a pleasant guy.” Lily intervened, choosing the perfect moment to divert the track of the conversation. “So today’s the last day before we get pulled into the deepest depths of the homework abyss. Let’s get ice cream or something, they won’t be selling it for long. ”The evening ended with multiple brain freezes, as the students waited for what was ahead.


	5. First Duet

Morning came suddenly and in the form of Lily, practically knocking through the dorm room door and yelling loudly enough to cause stampedes on a different continent. Whatever reason that the woman had possessed to refrain from waking Miku up had most likely turned tail and ran, leaving a confused Miku to calm down a murderous Luka and answer the door. 

“Good morning pigtails!” Lily sang, showing herself into the dorm. “What are you still doing in your pajamas? It’s the first day, time to start off your first impression with a ‘bang!’” Lily turned and noticed a glowering Luka where she sat in her bed. She waved her off with nonchalance.

“Oh hey there ‘not pigtails,’ don’t mind me-” whatever she was about to say next would never be spoken aloud, because Luka had decided to have a talk with her. 

“Excuse me.” she spoke formally, motioning for Lily to sit next to her on her bed. While this was going on, Miku went to her drawers and chose some clothing, going to take a shower. She briefly shot a concerned glance back at Lily and Luka, but shook her head and left them alone, despite Lily’s multiple silent calls of ‘traitor!’ 

“I understand that you mean well,” Luka began, prompting an annoyed sigh from Lily. She frowned and continued anyway, “however Miku and I can wake up on our own, and your intrusions are causing problems for not only us, but our neighbors as well.” she explained. “Not every person in this complex has to wake up before seven to get ready, the walls are thin, and you’re making noise in the hallway.”

“Huh.” said Lily. “Never really had anyone explain anything to me so directly before. ‘Usually give me a bunch of indirect statements because they don’t know how to break it to me.” after a moment of consideration, she broke into a grin. “I like you!”

“Will you stop coming here at-” Luka was interrupted.

“Yeah I’ll stop. So how’d you get to know Miku? I want to hear the whole romantic tragedy, beginning from the point where the young girl next door became the valiant thief of your heart, then transitioning to your tragic time apart, in which you only thirsted, needed for her presence, and then concluding with your romantic reuniting.” Lily portrayed her story over-dramatically as usual, but Luka was made considerably uncomfortable with how accurately she had guessed their story, excluding the suggested requital of her affections... Distracting herself from the triggered morbid train of thought, Luka looked up.

“Well we met at a party-”

“Steamy.” Lily interrupted.

“When we were seven.” Luka continued, successfully silencing the other woman. “Then we became best friends.”

“But you fell horribly deeply in love with her and her father found out before she did, prompting him to remove her phone?” Lily asked dramatically.

“No! Well... He took her phone away because of things that had nothing to do with either of us.” said Luka.

“But you did fall horribly deeply in love.” Lily deduced. Luka didn’t want to admit it. She found Lily’s sudden intrusion into the topic to be rude for someone who she barely knew. Yet, some part of her needed to have it said. It felt...urgent and exciting, not to mention daring and so relieving to finally have someone who knows of the secret that she had to hold silently onto for so long. She absolutely didn’t trust Lily, after all, she had only just met her, and yet there was some part of her that just couldn’t stand not to say it any longer. Silenced by fear, Luka had never been able to declare something natural and sincere to her, which immured her within the aspects of the person that other people wanted her to be.

“Yes.” she said simply. With that single word, a part of her that had been silenced was finally recognized. She didn’t trust Lily with the information, but she felt so relieved to have said it that she really didn’t care.

“‘Atta girl!” said Lily, patting her on the back, only adding to Luka’s relief. “And how do you feel about her now?” she blatantly asked, entirely ignoring social boundaries. Luka paused, not really knowing the answer to that question. She felt warmth go to her cheeks, but ignored it, staring at the floor as she contemplated her response. What was there to say? She had barely met back up with this intoxicating person before she was dragged back into the feelings that it had taken her years of painful work to finally ignore. One ring of a doorbell and a chat over coffee later, she was entirely and hopelessly addicted to the other woman’s presence yet again, that one instance had demolished the years of work that she had put into destroying her feelings for Miku. Every time that they were in the same room, and even when they weren’t for that matter, Luka wished to be as close with her as they were before, and then moreso. It hurt her so deeply that her friend had changed and grown up without her, she felt as if she needed to know everything about the other girl again in order to live.

“Things change.” said Luka, trying to pull herself out of that train of thought. “But...that didn’t.” 

“See, doesn’t it feel better to say it aloud?” asked Lily, before she froze up, cocking her head to the side and muttering an ‘oops.’ It was then that Luka realized that the sound of running water had stopped, and she hoped desperately that Miku hadn’t heard what she had said. Both women silenced, they listened as Miku began to hum a tune, and let out a shared breath of anticipation.

“Darn. Would’ve really liked to see a double confession.” Lily stated shamelessly. “Ah well, the romantic schmooze can wait. I have plenty of time to set my plans into action. Gives me all the more time to plan your wedding!” Before Luka could ask which plans she was referring to and feel chills of moderate fear at her words, Miku exited the restroom, clean and refreshed. She acknowledged the fact that Luka had not killed Lily, and then went to her bed to read, allowing them to continue her conversation. Her mind was honestly not focused on anything else in the world besides her book, and she didn’t even note that both women were entirely silent, looking at one another from the corners of their eyes. Lily smirked and broke out into an almost silent fit of chuckles while Luka covered her face. Miku dove eagerly into her novel, blind to the women across the room, both regretting and loving her decision with every fresh sentence. After being caught on every single word and dragged painfully through a beautifully bittersweet conclusion, she snapped the book closed, filled with the feeling of emptiness and gentle satisfaction that comes with finishing a novel.

“Gotta say, Miku,” said Lily, snapping her out of her post-reading contemplation, “You picked a pretty chill roommate if I do say so myself.” she patted Luka on the back once and stood up, causing Miku to smile slightly despite herself. Lily excitedly dragged both of them out of the door and to breakfast, before they waved goodbye to her and headed to their first class. Luka smiled at her, with a hint of what could have been nervousness.

“Ready?” she asked, hand on the doorknob to their first class. Miku took a breath and nodded, following Luka through the door and into a lecture hall. They were both early, but there were still other students there, and eventually a professor appeared from behind a small row of bookshelves. The second that he took the floor, Miku was captivated. He was simply so interested and interesting as he went about a subject that he surely loved, presenting everything about the subject that she loved in a way that only made her more excited to learn it. At the end of the course, Miku had taken many notes, and split up with Luka, going off to see many classes taught in similarly exhilarating manners. When the end of the day came, she was disappointed, but eager for the next one to begin.

Entering her dorm room, she dropped onto her bed and started scrolling through her newly obtained phone before tossing it aside and grabbing her homework out of her satchel. She knew that Luka would be back in one hour, given that she didn’t decide to do something after her final class ended, and went over the homework for their two shared courses first so that they could go over questions if necessary. The teacher had said that the final course assignment would be to do a song collaboration, and she wondered vaguely who she would be assigned.

After about one hour, she heard the door to their dorm room click open and Luka walk over to her bed, unceremoniously dropping her bag and falling onto her bed with exaggerated exhaustion.

“Did you not enjoy your first day?” asked Miku, setting down her homework for a brief moment to turn her attention to the collapsed woman. Luka shook her head.

“No, I loved it. It was just so long.” she groaned, turning her head slightly to regard Miku. After a while, she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and rummaging through her bag, grabbing her computer.

“Great so I guess the question here is: will I or will I not die before I complete this homework?” she asked. “Or I suppose, a better way to phrase that would be: on a scale from one to Sean Bean, how many times will I die over the course of these assignments?” 

“John Hurt.” Miku deadpanned, causing Luka to groan in annoyance and fall back down. “I’m kidding, it’s fairly easy, and I’ve already looked over ours to see what lies ahead if you want help. I’m also fairly sure that we have many courses in common even if we’re not in the same class, so we can both go over it if you need.” She eventually shifted over to Luka’s bed and showed her the homework, both of them lying with their legs up against a wall and looking at the various papers and online assignments. Luka cursed herself for every time that she felt her heart quicken its pace as Miku turned to look at her, usually to explain something. The situation felt so familiar, and both women felt remarkably at ease despite the trying task at hand.

 

For some reason, the entirety of the music department developed the idea that Luka and Miku were rivals. Miku supposed that it might have been because they both worked very hard and scored at the top of most of their classes, one usually claiming the best scores while the other claimed second. Since the scores were posted publicly, she supposed that it made sense, but that was really just them playfully challenging one another to do better. When their teacher decided to assign them as partners for the collaborative music piece, more because of their grades than anything else, both women knew that for some reason, discordant rumors were certain to fly.

“So, rival,” Luka began, walking over to where Miku sat and taking a seat next to her, placing her computer on her desk, “Do you have any ideas?” Miku paused, uncertain of whether or not she really wanted to announce what she had been thinking. Silently, she nodded, before clearing her throat, knowing that people would be watching them through the entirety of the following few weeks.

“I was thinking... Why not entertain the idea of a rivalry, and transition it to a friendship?” she asked. Luka considered the idea. She truly disliked the fact that everyone considered them rivals when they were quite clearly friends, especially since it made it more difficult to speak with her in public. She thought about it for a while before Miku continued.

“Like... telling the tale of an epic rivalry and including how that rivalry motivates us to work even harder?” she asked. Luka considered the statement again, and then nodded.

“I don’t usually like to go with the first idea given, but I think... We should talk more about this in the dorm. I have many ideas on the tip of my tongue, and class is about to end.” she explained. Miku nodded in response, scribbling down the ideas that they had already stated it, just in case either of them forgot. The rest of the day was spent in deep thought as both women put together a story in their minds, trying to understand what it was that they were attempting to say. Upon Luka’s return to their room, Miku snapped her book shut and sat up, noticing the other woman’s excitement. 

“Okay, okay,” Luka said excitedly, “So what about, we’re rivals, right?” she sat down on her bed and removed her satchel, humming out a really fast-paced tune, “We’re rivals, but instead of just being motivated by one another, we depend on one another without really realizing it in order to do our very best.” she was tapping her foot on the ground quickly, and Miku smiled. “And so to add an essence of macabre, we start to grow close on this realization before suddenly one of us falls behind and is lost forever, leaving the other to stop in her tracks and give up hope, ending on a suddenly sad note.”

“Wow...” Miku imagined the scene that Luka had described. “That definitely puts the story together. Do you want to write some rough lyrics?” she asked. Luka nodded, pulling out a binder and pencil. Although she wouldn’t mind writing on a computer, she liked to have real paper in her hands when she was just starting a composition. They spent an hour and a half writing lyrics, before Miku stopped.

“What if we not only start to grow close just vaguely, but we...” she wrote some lyrics down on her piece of paper, Luka’s breath caught as she wondered what Miku was doing, wondering if she was perhaps adding an essence of romance to the song. That was before she saw the sheet again, “We start realizing that we share all of these memories before one of us dies, and we begin to talk about them and become close before the death.” she suggested. Luka nodded, staving off mild disappointment for her excitement at the developing song.

“And then before I die, I tell you to keep running.” Miku concluded, which can lead into a slightly tragic, slightly desperate final chorus to conclude your journey, allowing the words to take on a whole new meaning without dropping the sense of adventure.” 

“That...works.” Luka said, before catching herself, “Why would you be the one to die?” she asked. Miku hummed.

“I’m shorter and tinier, so theoretically, people watching us would find me to be more fragile, and it would add to the tragedy because they would have subconsciously sensed it all along.” she explained. Luka begrudgingly agreed, not particularly comfortable with the idea of Miku being the one to die. The weeks that followed were filled with a torturous process none other than editing. They slowly developed the song and a tune, finishing creating it just before the deadline. The song, they had decided, would be called ‘Akatsuki Arrival.’ 

Neither student could wait, but they had both agreed to save their song for last to leave a lasting impression on the class. When it was finally their turn to sing, they walked through the rows of seats, coming to the front of a large auditorium. They looked around to see that Lily and a few others had probably skipped class to sit around and watch, and the enthusiastic woman waved her hand, somehow knowing not to speak. Miku took a deep breath and hooked her computer up to the speakers so that she could play the instrumental, feeling Luka’s presence beside her for reassurance. They had to start almost immediately, but shot glances at one another, helping each other calm down. Without any warning, Luka began to count down from three, and they began, exciting music sending their hearts racing before they began to sing. During the first verse, they sang individually, keeping their distance from one another while making sure to give the occasional arrogant glance in the other’s direction. Miku’s nervousness immediately went away as she launched into the fast-paced song, racing Luka even when she was the only one singing. The second that the chorus hit, they were in one another’s faces, singing as if it were an argument, yet keeping the overall beauty of the song. 

As it progressed, they slowly began to show less and less aggression to one another, eventually getting to the second chorus, which was more of a dance than an argument until Miku faded away. That was when there was a bridge, and then finally, the chorus at the end, which featured Miku cheering Luka on as the woman reluctantly finished her journey, soon taking it in stride with the encouragement of her ‘fallen’ rival. It concluded with enough of the exciting, fast-paced music at the end before stopping entirely. A few more students had entered the auditorium during the song, almost definitely recording the interaction even though the teacher had made certain to capture the full song. 

There was a brief millisecond’s silence, in which both women grew nervous, before the room erupted with enthusiastic cheers and applause. Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Miku felt herself relax, turning to regard Luka. It was in that instance, after having completed something so beautiful with someone that she had known for so long, that she felt as if she could kiss her. It was in the moment that directly followed that a deep fear replaced whatever warmth she had been feeling, following Luka off of the stage to go sit down. Luka cast her a sideways glance of concern, noticing her discomfort.

“Miku?” she whispered, resting her hand atop the other woman’s without even thinking, “Miku, what’s-”

“Whoooooooooooo!” an aggressive cheer came from behind them, accompanied by clapping, and neither of them needed to turn to see Lily hop over the back of a chair to sit down next to them. She patted Luka on the back since she was the closest. “Man, it might’ve only been me, but that was steamy!” she exclaimed. Lily bent over Luka to stage whisper to Miku.

“If I were you I’d ask her out.” she whispered, clearly not actually trying to be quiet whatsoever. Miku turned her head downwards slightly, allowing herself to blush in uncomfortable embarrassment.

“Woah, hey, back it up.” Luka, still charged from singing on stage, pushed Lily lightly back into her proper seat. “How did we get from our performance on-stage to your obsession with our relationship?”

“Not gonna lie,” Lily said flatly, “I entirely ship you two together, and that performance was the only confirmation that I needed to confirm that you two are destined for each other!” she finished the sentence after slipping slowly into her usual dramatic exaggeration. As they spoke, Miku glanced at her phone to see a notification. Hoping that she wasn’t being too rude, she opened it, and her face immediately fell, before she habitually put on a mask. 

“Lily!” Luka exclaimed, exasperated beyond herself. She turned to glance at Miku, hoping that she wasn’t too offended, when she caught the other woman’s unusual iciness. “Just...Look, your next class starts in five minutes.”

“Right, right!” Lily stood up, sashaying backwards as she left, “Wouldn’t want to disturb you two love birds on your free period!” she called, sprinting away before Luka could chase her. The pink-haired woman didn’t seem too intent on what she had been saying anyway. She turned to Miku and realized that she was still holding her hand despite the interaction. Rubbing a thumb against the back of Miku’s hand, Luka caught her questioning gaze.

“Hey.” she whispered, “What’s wrong?” Miku paused before answering. She looked up to Luka, to the face that she just might be able to trust, and then leaned over the arm-rest that separated them, giving her an awkward hug. Only one word left her mouth.  
“Dad.”


	6. Him

Back in their room, Luka sat on her bed, leaning against the corner of her walls. She watched Miku and furrowed her brow, noting how the young woman had almost entirely changed in demeanor simply by receiving a message from her father saying that he would be paying her a visit. She had been slowly growing comfortable with idle conversations, even beginning a few of her own, and yet she had not spoken a word over the course of the day unless it was necessary. Not only that, but her posture straightened while she appeared to be taking up even less space than usual, and there was a certain emptiness behind her eyes where there was usually emotion.

Luka’s eyes returned to her bright computer screen, where she made a few final changes to the essay that was due before submitting it and setting the object in one of her drawers. Miku had, of course, finished the assignment days before, and was mostly reading and studying for the next semester. When she heard Luka put her things away, she glanced up as a greeting before returning to her book. Luka stood up to shower and change, leaving Miku to her thoughts.

Miku pretended to read her book, too lost in contemplation to actually notice that Luka had left. When she felt that she was entirely alone, she considered allowing herself to cry. Her mind was moving hyperactively from topic to topic, hoping that her grades had been enough to satisfy her father, remembering how he said that her choice of such a career was disappointing. She shook her head to clear it of the memory, but was flooded with thoughts of the past as she remembered being told that she could never make it in the music industry. She began to cry angrily, feeling her chest constrict in both pain and disgust. He had told her so many terrifying things, and she had believed him, but the day that he told her that she could never achieve anything that she wished for, she had gotten truly frightened. Every day was haunted by the thought that if she didn’t do her very best, she would never succeed, and her father would be right. That was why she always had to work as hard as she could. Her fear of failure had been amplified by her only parent figure’s suggestion that she would never succeed.

She felt the tears on her face and wiped them away, hating them yet unable to make them stop. Whenever she remembered how impossible it would be for her to actually become what she wanted to be, she just became empty, void of any motivation or will to move forward. She grabbed one of her pillows and squeezed it against her chest, snarling into it and wanting to have some way to express the uselessness that she felt take hold of her. A tiny part of her suggested that she write a song, but the rest of her knew that she would never be able to do anything satisfying with herself. Time passed and she just sat there, barely able to move, only pausing to set her pillow back where it was meant to be. 

After a while, she heard the door to the bathroom open and scooted back against her headboard, taking note as Luka reentered the room. She stared back at her novel, which she had momentarily set aside, and began to read, when she felt pressure on the edge of her bed and glanced up to regard Luka questioningly. The other woman said nothing, because she knew that Miku wouldn’t feel comfortable talking. Instead, she offered a hug, feeling hesitance before the emptiness in her arms was replaced with a frighteningly small body. She let Miku rest her head on her shoulder, freezing up when she felt the other woman’s tears, but knowing better than to bring them up.

“When?” Luka asked simply, wondering precisely when it was that the menace would make himself known. There was a brief pause as the other woman was collecting herself.

“Anywhere from tomorrow through Friday...” Miku muttered. Luka remembered that the man was never very precise, and always invited himself into humungous slots of peoples’ time without really specifying how much time he wanted.

“Do you need me to keep away?” Luka began to pull back, but Miku responded by gently tightening her grip, keeping them in place. She shook her head.

“I don’t want that.” she explained simply, feeling Luka nod.

“Okay.” she responded. “What about Lily and the others?”

“They should be fine, I think.” Miku responded. Her phone buzzed again and she jumped slightly, turning around in Luka’s arms to grab it from her pillow. As Miku looked at the screen, Luka was surprised to feel her tense up, almost instinctively becoming smaller. She secured her arms around the other woman and waited. Miku frowned. Every time that she got a message from her father, she would become distant. Even scrolling past his name on her contacts lists caused her discomfort and even the slightest bit of disgust, making her no longer truly care about whatever it was she was doing beforehand. She felt Luka’s arms tighten slightly around her and was snapped out of her thoughts before she could be pulled in too deep, leaning slightly backwards in silent appreciation of the warmth. She felt Luka’s unspoken question, knowing that the other woman would be too polite to actually ask, and gave a blunt response.

“That was just another text from my dad.” she explained, feeling Luka nod. “He said he thinks he should be here tomorrow around ten. I’m to meet him in the parking pavilion...”

“Can I come with you to pick him up?” asked Luka. Miku’s breath caught in her throat. She considered her options. She really wanted Luka to come with her, but at the same time, she knew that it was emotionally dangerous. Although Miku had gone against her instincts and been moderately forced into trusting the other woman by memories of her past, she didn’t know if Luka would really stay with her through it all. Then again, she had proven to be extraordinarily kind in the face of tears before and as Miku thought, so the younger woman made her decision.

“Sure.” she responded. “You won’t...he’ll lie to you, though.” she said, becoming nervous.

“I’ll keep that in mind then.” Luka said simply. She gave Miku a final delicate squeeze before getting up and returning to her own bed. Miku lay down, pulling her covers around her as she tried to sleep. After a long period of anxiety, she heard Luka make a noise from the other side of the room.

“Tomorrow’s problems are-” her speech was disrupted by a yawn, and when she spoke again, she was clearly drifting off, “for tomorrow...” Miku nodded, and the anxiety went away for a while, before she remembered her father’s façade, and it stabbed her in the chest with poison daggers.

“But he...he pretends to be nice.” said Miku. She heard a groan from the other side of the room as Luka rolled over. “He convinces everyone that I know that I’m the only one who causes problems, because he has an amazing façade... and he says these things that are subtly threatening in public, so that no one can actually tell...” she muttered, growing extremely terrified of losing Luka.

“Miku...” Luka murmured, clearly exhausted, “My aunt wasn’t precisely the greatest woman in the world either... Trust me when I say I know what you’re talking about. The silent threats and calling you names that only you can hear while in public, subtly humiliating you without anybody around you really noticing, then lashing out and getting hurt when you’re angry in private... I get it.”

Miku was surprised into silence. She hadn’t considered the possibility of Luka actually understanding her, not to mention being in a horrible situation of her own.

“I’m sorry...” she muttered.

“Don’ be.” Luka slurred into her pillow. “Like your Dad, she makes it hard t’ see who she really is... I’d be acting just like you if she-” Luka was interrupted by another yawn, “d’cided to pop in...”

“Thanks.” Miku responded. After a moment of silence, she realized that Luka had fallen asleep, and tried to follow in her footsteps.

 

 

Luka was the first to wake up. Despite her comforting words, Miku still sat with the anxiety of knowing that her father was coming the next day, and it had taken her a bit longer to fall into an uneasy sleep. The pink-haired woman yawned and stretched, laying there for a minute before sitting up and turning to look at Miku’s sleeping form. She smiled affectionately at the woman who still managed to look childish despite growing up, leaving her bed and going to get dressed. She suddenly wished that she hadn’t showered the night before out of habit, because it would have been a nice way to begin the morning. Since it wasn’t a school day, she didn’t have to worry about a tight schedule, seeing as Miku usually showered in the mornings while she showered in the nights in order to save time, since they only had one shower. Shoving away the thought of showering with the other woman, Luka finished getting dressed and left the room, surprised to see Miku still fast asleep.

She waited around and then sat on her bed, reading a book for about one hour before she woke the other woman up. Miku looked around groggily before thanking Luka for waking her up and going to get dressed and shower. That left them with a half-hour until Miku’s father was supposed to come, when they both went out to get breakfast at a nearby diner before Miku got a text from her father, saying that he had arrived. Miku responded that she was heading over, leaving the diner with Luka in tow. The taller woman caught up to her, catching her hand for a brief second and giving it a reassuring squeeze before resuming her stride next to her.

They entered the pavilion and went to the third floor. Luka could actually feel Miku’s hesitance, from the way that she slowed down once or twice, as if coming to a wall. The smaller woman’s entire body was leaning backwards in a way, even if she was walking normally, it was clear that she didn’t want to find her father. Eventually, they entered the floor, but not before Luka took Miku’s hand and squeezed it gently once again, leaving it reluctantly. Miku’s dad spotted her and waved his hand making a weird noise with his mouth that could be easily mistaken for that of enthusiasm. Luka could feel Miku shudder even though she barely strayed from her path to the man.

“Aaaaaay Mikuuuu!” her father cheered in an unusual voice, grabbing her and ruffling her hair.

“Hi dad.” she said, voice lacking enthusiasm. To any onlooker, it would appear as if an over-friendly father were greeting his moderately annoyed daughter in a simple, common exchange.

“Now Miku, I know you feel inclined to show the true extent of your love for me, but please, reign it in.” he said sarcastically. To anyone watching, he would be joking around. To Miku and her father, it was a self-depreciating comment that was used to lightly force a feeling of guilt and wrongdoing onto the young woman for disliking him. She began to hate herself already for overreacting to his simple joke. It had taken years of ‘I love you but I don’t know what to do with you’ and being praised only during arguments for her to realize that it was just how he made everyone in the room believe that he was a caring person. He would always find a way to constantly reassure her that he was the only person who loved her and that she was a person who did not deserve that love. Disguising threats with praise was a very easy way to disorient an impressionable victim, after all. While this was going on in her head, she said nothing.

“And Luka? Is that you? I hadn’t seen you hanging around with Miku for a while, I was wondering where you were.” he said, turning his attention to the pink-haired woman, who smiled. He had managed to sound innocent and delicately shift a tiny portion of the blame for her absence onto Miku with exceptional subtlety, to the extent where she couldn’t tell whether or not he was serious.

“Yeah, Miku’s phone went missing, so it was hard to keep in contact.” she said, quickly reassuring him that she was fully aware of what had happened behind the scenes. To a bystander, it was just a session of friendly reacquaintance. “But we met back up despite the holdup,” she said, indirectly calling his efforts a mere holdup, “and here we are.” Luka finished with a smile.

“Well good.” he said simply, emphasizing the second words and putting his hands on his hips. “So Miku, are you gonna show me around?”

“Yeah, of course Dad.” Miku responded, beginning to lead them away. Luka remained close to Miku’s side, while the young woman’s father walked near the other, making light yet surprisingly threatening conversation. Miku’s father had come to realize that Luka was more of a threat to his dominance than he had originally suspected, and was taking every chance that there was to give her subtle indications of his superiority. Unfortunately for him, Luka had an encyclopedia of responses that she had wanted to use with her aunt, and he made no changes in her demeanor. He soon realized that he was outnumbered because there were two people that he wanted to oppress, and quieted down, shifting to actual light conversation. 

They entered the park near their dorm, but Miku quite clearly had no intention of showing him where she lived.

“Miku Miku Miku Miku!” a blonde bolt of lightning shot off of a bench, running to a surprised Miku and picking her up. Lily put her onto her shoulder and ran around, prompting surprised laughter from the shorter woman.

“Lily-what? Put me down!” Miku exclaimed, quite unconvincingly.

“I haven’t seen you at all today, Luka’s been hogging you the whole time!” Lily exclaimed, spinning around before pulling Miku off of her shoulder and setting her down, flashing her a Cheshire Cat grin. “Oh, who’s baldy?” she noted Miku’s father, leading the teal-haired woman back over to the group.

“That’s my father.” Miku said simply. Miku’s father smiled, extending a hand. Lily looked at it and sniffed slightly.

“You’re a fake one, aren’t you?” she asked, glancing up to meet his eyes with her own cool blue ones. Lily didn’t particularly waste time on subtlety. 

“What?” asked Miku’s father, taking his hand back once he realized that he wasn’t going to get a greeting. “I-”

“And whatever you were about to say was going to be some form of a guilt trip to get me to like you by force. Look, I have been to a lot of places, I’ve had lots of unsavory characters try to get on my good side. Save the act for someone who believes it.” Lily interrupted, not minding her manners. Miku’s father had no idea whether or not he disliked Luka or the newer disturbance more. To him, it was like picking a poison. When he had come to the city, he was expecting to leech some form of compassion from his daughter so that he could tell everybody of her achievements as if they were his, as if he hadn’t directly told her that she would get nowhere in life without him, as if the multiple threats that he had given her whenever they were alone had never taken place. He had walked into someplace unfamiliar unprepared, and been met with two people who saw straight through him, one which he had been suspecting before he had alleviated contact with her.

“Gotta admit, I don’t really care at all about maintaining friendly relations with the parents,” Lily continued, “so you can put that trap card away too. The people who raised me were pretty much failures, and I can easily see you as being the same.”

Miku’s father was appalled. He was usually the one who would call people failures, to put it bluntly, and he didn’t like the sudden role reversal.

“Young woman-” he began, already interrupted.

“Young, sexy, lovable, woman who is not going to fall for your tricks.” Lily edited.

“I don’t know where this is coming from, but I’d like it if you left us alone.” he said.

“Well I’d like it if I stayed here. And to beat you to the punch, it would make me happy to stay here. I’ve heard that line thousands of times.” Lily spoke with nonchalance. Miku’s father wasn’t actually trying to be manipulative, and he had no response, considering the fact that he had been accused of something despite his innocence. He disliked the feeling that he had so often forced onto his daughter when they were alone. The remainder of the day until lunch was moderately awkward, with Lily being more protective of Miku than Luka was, to the point of irrationality.

 

 

Finally, in the man’s opinion, he had managed to get Miku alone. He spoke quietly to her, words that sliced and stung as she controlled her sobs, trying not to let the tears spill over. He reminded her again and again of precisely how much she needed him, and she agreed, having no way to fight back. He spun a web of toxic lies around her, reflecting the events of her entire life with him, but mixing them with deluded lies, reminding her how many times she had let him down when he had been being perfectly patient. He reminded her that he was only telling her these things because he loved her, and because he wanted her to get ahead, before once again telling her that she would never succeed in the world of music. She didn’t know why he could possibly have driven all the way to her school just to yell at her. She understood back when he would pull her out of her room to establish dominance, but driving for a few hours purely to demean her was confusing. Still, here he was, reminding her how unlovable she was for hanging out with those people and letting them hurt him when he had driven so far just to see her. He reminded her how much time she spent on the phone with Luka, ignoring him as he played his videogame with his alcohol downstairs.

Miku finally began crying. She cried and the man was pleased, beginning his next role. He told her that he wasn’t trying to make her cry, and that he could be acting so much worse, but he was just trying to help her. He said that he could be acting on his anger when he wasn’t, and that she should be thankful. It wound up with Miku shouting that she was sorry at the top of her lungs to deaf ears even though her father had not raised his voice from a low, menacing growl of disappointment. And how disappointed he was in her, for ignoring him and thinking that other people could love her even since he was the only person that would ever accept her.

Eventually, after an hour, when he was finally done, he turned around, concluding by telling her that he was going to do some work when he got home, and that he only did that for her because he wanted her to get better. She sank to her knees as he turned around, not getting far. He exited the bathroom to see Luka leaning against some cupboards in the hallway that led to the bedroom. Luka simply nodded.

“Didn’t think anybody would ever hear you, right?” she asked, pushing him aside with as much force as possible without knocking him over so that she could approach Miku. “My aunt was right. You two really were a perfect match.” she said to him, turning to the woman on the floor, who had her hands covering her face and didn’t seem to notice Luka’s presence. She was trembling incredibly, but before Luka let herself comfort her, she saw the man out, making sure that he didn’t do any more damage. She said nothing but just watched him go, icy blue eyes piercing his retreating form before he rounded a corner. 

Luka reentered her room and went to the restroom, sitting down and pulling the distraught young woman into her arms. She knew that everything that Miku’s father had said in public was a reminder of previous conversations that had been just like this one. She held Miku very close to herself, crossing her legs and cradling her in her lap so that they could rock back and forth, feeling the other woman’s tears through her shirt. Miku eventually realized where she was, recognizing the familiar scent as she had her nose buried in the crook of Luka’s neck. Her mind calmed down very slowly as she eventually got out of her fight or flight reaction, feeling the terror and pain leave her body at the speed of molasses going uphill. Luka was so patient. Miku felt horrible keeping her there, but she couldn’t stop clinging to the other woman, clutching her shirt in both hands in a clumsy mimic of a hug as she cried.


	7. Progression

Morning came and went, bringing with it a shell-shocked but hopeful Miku and multiple complaints from Luka. The latter had never been a morning person, while the former was surprised and relieved by her friend’s ability to be empathetic. Unfortunately, although she was grateful for Luka’s empathy, the words of her father still cut deep. On the more positive side of things, Miku was able to remind Luka that within the following month, both of them would be able to sleep in. Until then, however, it was time to continue preparation for midterms. Miku had been wise enough to begin studying intensively far prior to her father’s visit, meaning that although she was shaken, it wouldn’t affect her grades as much as it could have. Luka, being a hard worker who relied on a schedule, had of course also started studying much in advance. Eventually, both women wound up lying on the floor, notes spread out every which way despite Luka’s constant absentminded adjustment. The exciting experience of trying to obtain books from the library had proved stressful and aggressive, leaving them with less resources than Miku would’ve liked.

Eventually, the teal-haired woman felt her shoulder being nudged by the eraser of a pencil, and looked up to see Luka motion towards the alarm clock on their bedside table. It was about fifteen minutes after the shops would open, which meant that many of the breakfast places were probably already flooded with students. Scooping up her papers while trying to keep them organized, Miku put them into her satchel and waited for Luka to file hers away before they hastily got dressed and went in search of breakfast. As was suspected, all of the diners nearest to the school were packed with students. Remembering the small café that they used to frequent, Luka led them there, surprised to come across Kaito sitting by a set of windows.  Miku waved to him and started to approach, but he softly stated that he wasn’t looking for company and returned to his drawing. Understanding that many artists wanted time alone with their work, Miku nodded and bid him farewell, going to sit at her usual spot with Luka after getting breakfast. It was then and there that it happened again. Sitting by a large window, Miku became acutely aware of the way that the light hit the other woman’s face, making the upper edges of her irises become a much lighter shade of blue than was normal. She watched her thoughtful expression as she focused on the world outside the window, recognizing a familiar sensation as she suddenly remembered the need to breathe. Forcing her gaze elsewhere, she stared down at her work, smiling slightly as she remembered Lily’s scolding for the billionth time in the past semester. She furrowed her brow, shaking her head slightly to keep herself from getting distracted by persistent mental images of the other woman’s face, making it difficult to concentrate on her work. Eventually, Luka shifted, and the sound of her movement was enough to snap Miku out of her constantly looping thoughts so that she could focus again.

She got through a lot of her work before sitting up and shutting her computer, scribbling down a few things in pencil and sitting back to enjoy her now lukewarm espresso. After a moment Luka asked her if they could compare answers. Studying went like that, with Miku making more headway than should have been possible for someone so distracted, until they decided to head to the park and take a break.

 

 

Every single day of the weeks leading up to the midterms was spent in a similar way. Luka and Miku would study intensively during the morning, then go to classes if there were any, before meeting back up and venturing to the park to continue studying and concluding the evening with yet more studying. There was very little time to relax, but somehow, Miku reflected annoyedly, her mind still made plenty of time to consider her pink-haired roommate as opposed to the subjects that she was trying to study. Every night Luka made certain to get them both to sleep so that they could operate properly the next day. Lily, on the other hand, was quite clearly not getting enough sleep. Although the woman seemed laid back, she was still a hard worker when it came to academics, and as the date of the midterms approached she had quite clearly transitioned from sleep energy to that which seven cups of triple espresso might provide. Luka pitied whichever poor soul had to share a room with her at that point. 

The week of the midterms finally arrived, bringing with it jittery students and a wave of terror that almost certainly washed over the entire student body before everybody accepted the inevitable. During that time, it became almost pointless for Luka to try to get Miku to let herself sleep, because the other woman’s extreme fear of failure probably kept her up anyway. Entering the large auditorium where the first exam would be given, Luka gave Miku a few words of comfort before moving to her place. There were then hours of work devoted to various exams. Hours transitioned to one week, before the final exam, which Miku entered alone. She exhaled, feeling her exhaustion in every part of her body. Mentally, she recited everything that she could before taking a seat and grabbing a pencil. Throughout the exam, she forced herself to remain calm, not allowing herself to glance away from the exam.

Meanwhile, an exhausted Lily offered a half-hearted fist bump to everyone she saw before heading back to her room to fall asleep.

“Everyone’s doing cool? Great, great...” she muttered, stumbling off. Gumi ran to her and tried to support the much taller woman. They made their way back to the dorm slowly, making scattered conversation. A familiar color caught Lily’s eye, and she remembered something.

“HEY PINKY!” she shouted across the campus, noticing that Luka was sitting on a bench outside of her dorm. Luka looked up from a book that she was reading, instantly pinpointing the source of the noise. “‘S GONNA TAKE THE GREEN ONE HERE AND GO FOR A TRIP, BUT WE NEED TWO MORE!” she yelled. Gumi shook her head and they went over to join Luka on her side of the street.

“The ‘rents have a hyper-cool super-new resort that I’m just aching to try out, and we have a break before school starts again. If you and pigtails want to come, which you entirely do, I have space for two more. The fun-van leaves tomorrow.” she said, leaning heavily on the other woman. “Did I mention I haven’t slept in three weeks? Because I haven’t slept in three weeks. After the sky became the grass I just decided to roll with it.”

“Get some sleep, Lily.” Luka responded to her second statement as opposed to her proposition, closing her book and using her hand to mark the page that she had been on. Lily nodded slowly and Gumi walked her off. Seeming to just remember the other half of the conversation, she paused. “You’re coming to the resort with us!” she hollered over her shoulder, “I hear that the cabins do a phenomenal job of setting the mood!” Gumi glanced up at her questioningly, but shook her head and returned her eyes to the road ahead of them, assuming that she was too tired to voice whatever thought would have made her last statement make sense. Lily shouted a final ‘tomorrow!’ before Gumi managed to get her into the other female dormitory. Luka hurriedly returned her gaze to her book, feeling her face heat up considerably. After puzzling over a few sentences, she realized that she had lost the page in her hastiness. Searching very confusedly through her book for the proper page, she only noticed that Miku had sat down next to her when she heard an exaggerated sigh of tiredness that caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. Turning to regard the other woman, she gave up on finding her page and set the book aside, mentally cursing the setting sun for highlighting her delicate features in such a way. In her opinion, orange should never work well with teal, and yet she wasn’t nearly able to pull her gaze from the gorgeous contours of the other woman’s face. She furrowed her brows, feeling something deep in her chest that was familiar and yet so wildly different from whatever she had experienced during her childhood. The feeling had substance, as if it were somehow tangible while she couldn’t hope to actually reach it with her hands. It was excitement that somehow managed to also feel slow and relaxing.

Luka shook herself out of her train of thought before she could get too lost, realizing Miku appeared to have dozed off, presenting her with an entirely new dilemma. The other woman was sleeping so peacefully, her tiny breaths and tranquil smile made a pretty great case against waking her up, and yet Luka knew that it would be the right thing to do. She wanted nothing more than to scoot to the other end of the bench and join her, but forced herself not to comply, instead leaning back and staring at the sky, which was still colored by the remnants of the setting sun. Just as she was about to accidentally follow in Miku’s tired footsteps, Luka came to her senses with a start, hearing a low chuckle. She turned to regard a familiar purple-haired man with distaste in her glare, allowing herself to shift closer to her roommate and place her arm over the back of the bench where she was sleeping. Seeing her awake, the man just passed them, smirking and shaking his head.

It was then that Luka decided to wake Miku by delicately shaking her shoulder. Miku slowly sat up and opened her eyes sleepily, glancing around for a bit before she came to focus on Luka’s face. Remembering where she was, she smiled embarrassedly.

“Sorry, I hadn’t meant to fall asleep...” she muttered.

“It’s perfectly alright,” Luka hastily responded, “it was just getting late, so I thought we should get to our room.” Miku agreed and stood up, pulling Luka to her feet as well and leading her inside. After clambering up the set of stairs and tossing on their sleep attire, both women fell hastily asleep.

 

 

“He wants to record it?” asked Miku. She was sitting behind Luka on the other woman’s bed, reading an e-mail that she had wanted to show her. She felt Luka nod since she was looking over the taller woman’s shoulder, and briefly considered hugging her from behind before she spoke again.

“Seeing as it was forwarded to us by our teacher, he’s an actual producer too, and not just one of those shady web salesmen.” 

It was Miku’s turn to nod. “So do you want to start recording?” she asked.

“I’m down for it if you are.” Luka responded. “We’ve only got this one week to use the studio, so it’s unlikely that we’ll wind up with the finished product as he wants it, but I definitely want to give it a try. I suppose Lily’s plan can wait until next week.” Miku sat back and Luka turned to regard her, recognizing the other woman’s questioning stare and remembering that she hadn’t told her about Lily’s offer.

“Right, I forgot to tell you. Lily wants to know if we’d go with her to a new resort that her family recently opened up.” she said. Miku appeared to be considering it for a short period of time.

“That lacks much description, but as would be any of Lily’s spontaneous offers...” she muttered. Luka was quite clearly already planning on going, and Miku had nothing better to do anyway. “Sure, why not?” she responded. Luka smiled slightly, relieved. She hadn’t wanted to go to Lily’s house without Miku, and she also didn’t want to drive alone, perhaps in the dark for however many hours it would take to get there. Visions of dark haunted mansions and butcher shops filled Luka’s head, causing her to shudder.

“What, it’s not some abandoned murder shed... is it?” asked Miku, appearing to read her mind. Luka shook her head, resuming her composure.

“No, no. I just wasn’t really told what the place would be like, and I honestly wouldn’t expect any less from someone like Lily at this point...” she responded. Miku smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Oh come on, it’s not as if she would want to go there herself, so if anything, she’d just tell you to go without her. From what you said, it sounds as if she plans on going with us.” she said, trying to lessen the other woman’s worries. Luka nodded.

“So we can go to record right now?” asked Miku, trying to change the topic. Luka nodded. 

“We can call him to tell him we’re in on the deal, and then drive to the studio and record. He even has a team for us.” she responded. Miku considered this and nodded.

“What about a manager?” she asked.

“He has people there who work for him. If we need a manager, he may assign us one.” Luka responded. The call was made, and they planned to be at the studio in one hour. As Miku prepared to leave the building, she almost walked directly into Lily, who’s face lit up.

“Miku! Just the person I wanted to see.” she cheered, “Did Luka tell you about the trip you’re going on?”

“Actually, Lily,” Luka poked her head through the doorway, coming to stand just behind Miku, “Miku and I have some business to attend to before we leave. We were thinking of meeting you there in a week?” she finished off her statement as more of a question, implying that she wondered if it would still be okay to join them. Lily sulked and crossed her arms, just as Gumi entered the small courtyard outside of the dorms.

“You’re going to leave me with Greeny?” asked the former in a broken voice.

“I told you they wouldn’t be able to come on such short notice.” Gumi came to stand next to Lily, hitting her gently on the back of the head as she approached. “We need to plan these things before we just run into them.”

“Umm, actually Gumi,” Lily spoke with such an incredible amount of sass that it was obviously a joke, “The pink one said that they had business to attend to, and that they’d be coming later.” she stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms.

“Sorry I wasn’t around to hear that, I was just taking care of basic hygiene.” Gumi responded with an equal amount of sass.

“I brush my teeth!” Lily defended. 

“Once every five years, maybe.” Gumi retorted. Somehow, despite sounding like an argument, the interaction felt friendly.

“No! Do you wanna smell my breath as proof?” she asked, bending down and opening her mouth wide. Gumi stumbled backwards a few steps, backing away.

“Eew, gross, no! I know that you wake up, like, two hours before I do, even if you- stop moving! Lily!” Gumi kept moving backwards, and Lily kept moving forwards, before they both broke into a run as Lily chased her friend around the tiny courtyard. Miku stood in the doorway. Luka shifted behind her, and she was suddenly aware of their closer proximity, hurriedly moving to the side to let her friend actually exit the dorm. Gumi was shorter, but experience both in running and avoiding her present pursuer allowed her to dodge when necessary, making sharp turns. Lily was clearly just enjoying herself, running behind the smaller woman and occasionally sticking her tongue out when she caught someone’s gaze.

“Should we just leave?” asked Luka. Miku was about to nod, before she remembered something.

“Do you know the location of... wherever it is that Lily wants us to go?” she asked. 

“I can just text her for it. This might be a while.” Luka decided, and Miku nodded, following her out and into a maze of sidewalks. Walking alongside her oldest friend, Miku could once again be plunged deep into thought. The first thing that she recognized was warmth, both in the air around them and within herself. While she usually preferred colder weather and rain, the day that they had just stepped into was beautiful in its warmth. It wasn’t painfully hot, and the wind was a simple breeze so that it didn’t disturb conversation. She could enjoy the sun for once as it highlighted everything, including the woman beside her, with a cheery hue that she would normally have considered to be too bright. Still, everything seemed muted, even if it wasn’t in pastel colors. She noticed Luka furrow her brow in thought, wondering briefly how a such simple expression could make her want to pull the woman into a hug, or write a song about her. Miku even considered taking a picture, before she realized that such actions would seem extremely unusual. Luka smiled.

“What do you think will happen if we actually succeed?” she asked, moving her gaze to meet that of her friend. Miku paused for a moment. The idea of success in the music world hadn’t occurred to her. Everything had started quickly that morning, and she hadn’t had time to actually think about what she was doing. The idea of working was what she understood, but the possibility of success was unreal to her.

“I don’t know,” Miku responded honestly, “I haven’t thought about it before.”

“I want to live in a mansion built into the ocean.” Luka stated. “With many submarine ports to dock random travelers, but the fee will consist of fresh tuna.”

“Caught in a humane way?” asked Miku. Luka nodded.

“Of course.” she responded. “And you can come over, and we can have coffee on the roof. In fact, we can buy the small café that we met up in, and put it on my roof, which will be just above the seaside.”

“Won’t it smell like fish?” asked Miku. Luka shrugged her shoulders.

“One of the friendly travelers will be an inventor, and they’ll make me a special machine that keeps the entire mansion smelling of roses, or something like that.” she decided with another nod.

“People will call you the crazy fish lady.” Miku stated.

“You’ll still visit me, right?” asked Luka.

“Of course, because I’d be the world renowned crazy cat lady. I plan on adopting every cat in the world and putting them into a humungous shelter, and whenever anyone’s feeling sad, we let them into the shelter and they can lie on the ground, and cats will come and sit on them.” Miku decided.

“What if they’re allergic to cats? Or they don’t like them?” asked Luka. Miku paused.

“I’ll find another method.” she decided. “This will, of course, all be happening in-between various recording sessions.”

“So you’ll visit me at Tuna Estate, and we can have butlers bring around trays of leeks.” Luka continued. They arrived at the parking garage, and got into Luka’s car, because they wanted to carpool and she insisted on driving. The ride was a little longer than forty-five minutes, and conversation ended pretty quickly. 

“So I’ll dismount my pet tuna and bid goodbye to the cyber-merpeople.” Luka concluded.

“Maybe we should listen to music for a while.” Miku suggested. “Not that I don’t enjoy this conversation, because I really, really do!” she responded hurriedly to Luka’s slightly concerned expression, “I missed it a lot. But we’re going to be recording for a while, and our voices will grow hoarse. We’d better save them.” Luka realized that she was right, hiding her mild disappointment as she turned a radio on. Neither of them said it, but the thought that they might actually hear their voices on a radio was terrifying and exciting. Miku didn’t expect to succeed, and Luka knew that the odds were small, but even so, they found themselves in an extremely unique situation. After a while of driving in a comfortable, music-filled silence, they finally arrived, and mentally shook the tiredness out of themselves, trying to be alert. Someone was there to meet them as they got out. He spoke to them, and Luka recognized the voice from the phone. Hands were shaken, and both women were led through a series of halls before coming to a surprisingly large studio. A team of people sat outside of the recording booth, managing the various pieces of equipment. Luka made a mental note to thank them later, because their song would be difficult to submit professionally if they didn’t have a team. They were given a brief explanation from the man, and entered the recording booth to see a pair of microphones that they both recognized to be fairly upscale. Miku noted also that the microphones weren’t identical, and remembered her instruction to approach the one nearest the entrance.

Luka came to stand across from her, and they smiled at one another briefly before telling the rest of the team that they were ready to record. Beginning, Miku was surprised. There was a certain power to the situation that she was in, exciting her. She could easily feel the places where she didn’t properly hit a note, or where she didn’t harmonize properly with her friend, and made mental notes to get them the next time around. Once they stopped singing, Luka asked her if she wanted to record again, and they agreed without hearing the product of their recording, informing the team. 

When Luka began again, she was attentive to every part of how Miku sang, as well as her own voice. She recognized familiar rises and falls in the other woman’s voice, and entered the song almost precisely when it would have been perfect, enjoying a small victory, yet slightly annoyed that she couldn’t hit it right. She stared into Miku’s eyes, remembering that for the moment, they were in a fierce rivalry. Every word that she sang came out with vigor, and she smiled inwardly, noting that she liked the way that it felt. At the end of the recording session, they exited the studio and went to listen to the recording. What they heard actually made Luka utter a verbal apology. She had gotten overly into character, to say the least, and it showed in the way that her voice was too uneven, as if speaking. Miku, on the other hand, noted that she too sounded extremely unprofessional, voice wavering unnecessarily at points. She heard a thump, and was confused for a moment before she realized that it was when Luka must have stomped her foot on the ground. She remembered something about some people being very physical when they were recording, which caused problems, and worked it into her mind that she should try to stay as still as possible.

They reentered the recording booth, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Luka realized that the natural sound of the song carried the majority of the urgency so that she didn’t need to express it as vocally as she had been. Miku tried not to waver, going for a familiar feeling in the back of her mouth when she hit the high notes. She told the recording team that she was ready once again, and this time, didn’t launch into the song despite the fact that it was action. She took a silent breath and began with slight urgency, not necessarily needing to emphasize how she was feeling nearly as much as she had been. As she sang the words, she made certain that her voice did not waver nor break, keeping it smooth before Luka joined in. Luka watched herself, but entered the song exactly when she wanted to, meeting Miku’s eyes again as she challenged her in the song. They rose through the first chorus together, slowly building off of the tension created by the beginning in order to sound properly urgent. As opposed to getting overly emotional, Luka focused on allowing her voice to rise and fall, complimenting the music instead. When they finished, both women exited to listen to what they had done. Luka thought that she hadn’t been nearly as horrible as before, but there were still many things that she could do to make herself better, still embarrassed at how her voice came out in comparison to Miku’s. Miku frowned. Her voice was a lot clearer, it broke in less spots and it didn’t waver as much, but she had been focusing too much on making it smooth, to the point where she didn’t hit every note that she wanted to. They reentered the studio, discussing the song with one another before beginning again.

 

 

Both women gave the song their best, not ceasing to work until Luka realized that they needed to eat. Of course, Miku was going to ignore her hunger and continue working, and honestly, if Luka had been recording alone, she would have done the same. However, since she was looking out for a friend, Luka managed to briefly pry Miku away from her work. The shorter woman had insisted on staying in the studio and working on a part of the song that she just couldn’t hit right while Luka went to lunch. While Luka would just have brought food back for her friend, it wasn’t allowed in the studio, and eventually she managed to get Miku to come with her by grabbing her hand and leaning back with all of her weight. Miku sat and allowed her arm to be tugged for a while, before Luka reminded her that she was hungry, and that you can’t work as well when you’re hungry, and eventually dragged her out. They both ate as quickly as possible and returned before the recording team had actually finished its lunch break, giving them time to practice a little before getting back to work.

When they started working again, they simply didn’t stop. They sang until the studio closed, but they did take breaks for water, and were careful not to damage their voices. Miku opted to drive home. She made up the excuse that it was because Luka had driven her, but in actuality, the taller woman looked like she was about to faint where she stood. Miku doubted that she looked any better, but she absolutely refused to allow her tired friend to drive, eventually getting her to begrudgingly give her her keys. It was worth it, because Luka fell asleep in the passenger seat despite the fact that it was early for her. When they pulled into the parking pavilion, Miku was reluctant to wake her up. She almost fell asleep next to her, but realized that they’d both feel better if they slept in actual beds, and forced herself awake, waking Luka and taking the short walk before they collapsed in their dorm room.

 

 

The first day’s struggles were only the beginning, as both women soon discovered. Working themselves so hard the previous day left them exhausted, and by the third day of recording, Miku realized that they would need to establish an actual schedule in order to get any good work done. She gave them more time to sleep in, since going to sleep earlier would be difficult as they had grown used to coming home at a set time. Then, she found a logical amount of time to work, while putting a small break in the middle so that they could eat and discuss what they wanted to do with their voices, and what they thought that perhaps the other could do as well. While such activity could have been offensive, either woman learned from what the other had to say, also learning from how they corrected themselves. By the end of the week, neither woman felt that the song was complete. They both simply had so much that they could do to make it better that they didn’t even want to show it to the man, but it had been a part of the agreement. 

He nodded, and asked to look at their schedule and how they worked. Luka, who had made a physical copy, showed it to him and he looked at it for a moment. Both women realized that they probably seemed lazy, yet they needed to be careful about stressing out their voices.

“I heard that the first two days, you just came in here and recorded?” he stated, sounding like he was asking a question. They nodded. “I will admit, that’s good progress considering the fact that you’re new to this. I can’t wait to listen to the recording. I usually do that alone, so you two can head home now. I’ll contact you if anything comes up.” They nodded.

“We were planning on going on a trip for the next week or so.” Luka remembered. “Will that interfere with your plans?” The man thought for a minute, bringing his hand to his chin.

“No, I should only need to contact you by phone.” he responded. 

“Thank you.” said Luka. She and Miku left the small office, but Luka wanted to stop by the recording studio first. They saw their team packing up what little they had brought to the studio, and both women thanked them excessively for helping out before they left the building. The drive home was a quiet one. Luka and Miku had taken turns being the driver, and although Luka was idle, she considered the experience. It wasn’t the first time that she had felt the feeling, yet it never failed to surprise her. There was a certain vibe that one got after finishing an engrossing activity, such as rehearsing for a play or movie. It felt sad to know that the experience was over, and yet there was also a relief because she knew that she couldn’t screw up. She almost drifted off, but heard Miku begin to hum their song. Although she had almost grown tired of singing it, Luka joined in for fun when it was her cue, surprising Miku. The humming intensified before the taller woman began to mumble a few words, and by the end of the song, they were both singing tiredly. No longer needing to save their voices, they began to sing various other songs that they liked before Miku remembered something.

“Should you text Lily to tell her that we’re going tomorrow?” she asked. Luka thought for a moment.

“She’s been blowing up my phone for the past week wondering, so she’s pretty well informed.” she replied. “I got the address and found directions online.”

“When did you do that?” asked Miku. Neither woman had had much freetime whatsoever.

“Before going to sleep a few days ago.” Luka responded. They arrived at the parking pavilion, hastily exiting the car and heading for their dorm. Sleep came quickly, and they woke up extra late the following day, eating a relaxed breakfast before packing what they needed and getting into Luka’s car, which was larger and better-suited for carrying luggage. Just as they were getting into the car, Miku’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID before showing it to Luka and taking the call. A few nods and noises of agreement told Luka that Miku was listening intently.

“She’s right here with me.” said Miku, “Yes, I’ll ask.” she took the phone from her ear and covered it with her hand, looking up at Luka.

“He wants to sell it.”


	8. La Casa De Lily

Hectic would be an understatement if Luka were to try to describe the state of their tiny apartment in the morning. The previous day, herself and Miku had suddenly needed to drive all the way back to the studio to meet up with their producer, because he wanted to sell the song. It had been a rush of surprise and excitement, and left them very little time to pack for Lily’s reserve. By the time that they had sorted out all of the legalities it had already been night, and they would still need to speak with the producer over the phone whenever anything came up, but they had permission to go on the trip. That was how their tiny dorm quickly became what looked like the victim of a small hurricane, as the two women ran around trying to pack enough clothing for the week. 

As they were packing, Lily was whining over the phone, dramatically reminding them of how she had been abandoned with only her roommate for an entire week. Luka and Miku took turns consoling the woman and packing, but they were both concerned for the state of their green-haired friend. When they were finally ready to leave, they exchanged about fifty excited goodbyes with Lily and Luka went to get her car so that they didn’t have to walk all the way to the parking garage with their bags.

They hastily piled into the car, and it took a few minutes of driving for both of them to finally relax. They were both too exhausted to start a real conversation, so Miku turned the radio on as they drove, napping in the passenger seat. Luka tried to keep her eyes on the road, but the peacefully sleeping figure in the seat next to her proved quite distracting. After a few hours had passed, Miku sat up and stretched, turning the radio down a bit.

“That was a crazy week.” she stated. Luka nodded feverently, before smiling a bit.

“Lily sounded like she hadn’t been walked in days.” she commented amusedly.

“I hope Gumi hasn’t gone entirely insane.” Miku agreed. They drove a short while before coming to a small restaurant, where they had planned to eat a late lunch. Luka got out of the car and promptly fell to the ground, Miku sprinting to the other side to see what had happened.

“Luka!” she exclaimed, looking down to where the woman had fallen. Luka took the hand that Miku had extended, getting shakily to her feet.

“Thanks...” she said, cringing slightly, “My legs fell asleep.” Miku gave her a sympathetic look and they walked into the diner. They were seated and ordered a heavy lunch, thanks to the fact that they hadn’t had breakfast and would have a very late dinner.

“What kind of a reserve do you think Lily’s parents own?” asked Miku. Luka pretended to be lost deep in thought before smiling mischievously.

“I bet it’s one of those really shady adventure parks,” she began, leaning over the table slightly, “with the surprisingly cheap rides that always look like they’re falling apart.” 

“Oh come on,” Miku scoffed, sitting back and leaning on the booth slightly, “that’s the best you can do?” Luka was surprised for a second, before her smile came back as she recognized a challenge. Miku leaned forward again, placing her elbows on the table.

“I think,” she said, almost whispering, “Lily’s secretly a human smuggler and this is all an elaborate ruse to get us onto some plane.” Luka blinked before smirking. Their humor had always been a tad morbid, but she had gotten out of practice. They spent the next few minutes thinking up increasingly weird and disturbing ideas before realizing how close they had gotten.

“I think...” Miku trailed off, staring into Luka’s eyes for longer than she should have. Luka’s gaze flicked down to the other woman’s lips and she raised a hand to cup Miku’s cheek, aiming to close the distance. Instead of this, the waitress rounded the corner, bringing their drinks, and they both sat back in their booths, avoiding eye-contact with one another. Their food came shortly after, and the direction of the conversation was effectively changed.

“It still feels like none of this is actually happening.” Miku commented, reflecting on the week that they had spent recording. “We spent so long working on it, but it doesn’t feel real.”

“I know.” said Luka, sitting back in her booth, “I can’t believe people are actually able to buy our song. I mean I know that it probably won’t sell well, but the fact that it’s out there...”

“Yeah.” Miku sighed. Her mind kept returning to what had almost happened a few minutes ago, and she wanted some reason for them to get that close again. None came, and she was content with the light conversation that she could make, still relieved to have an old friend back in her life. When they got back into the car, Miku insisted on driving since Luka looked exhausted, and they continued on their way to Lily’s resort.

Long after the sun had set, there came a lull in conversation, and Miku noted that Luka looked solemn. 

“Are you alright?” she asked, getting Luka’s attention without taking her eyes off the road. Luka nodded.

“Yeah.” she muttered. Miku frowned.

“No you’re not.” she said, “What’s wrong?” Luka was silent for a moment before responding.

“What do you think the resort’s actually like?” she asked quietly. Those words were all that Miku needed to remember that Luka was easily frightened. Their earlier conversation definitely could have stirred up a lot of the woman’s concerns, and Miku was angry at herself for forgetting.

“I think it’s actually just a nice cabin in the woods, like she said.” Miku responded, trying to calm her down.

“But do you...” Luka tried to keep the stutters from her voice, “Do you think we’ll be all alone in the middle of the forest?”

“If we are, it’ll just be us, Lily, and Gumi.” Miku responded.

“But what if there’s a murderer?” asked Luka.

“A murderer? Please.” Miku laughed slightly. “If anyone tried to hurt you, I’d have them running home with their tails between their legs.” Miku paused, slightly surprised at how forward she was being.

“But really, Miku. What if someone wants to hurt us?” asked Luka, growing nervous. They were already driving through a thick forest, and there was no traffic in sight.

“Luka. So long as I am here, no one will ever be able to hurt you.” Miku said sincerely, turning for just a second to meet Luka’s eyes. A few more minutes, and they turned into the driveway, exhausted. It was a long, gravel path that led to a clearing, which was mysteriously void of Lily’s car. Luka was clearly still nervous, but they both got out of the car and approached the house. There was a crack, as if a branch had fallen, and both women jumped, Miku offering a hand that Luka hastily took in her own. They got to the door of the house, and Miku knocked, surprised to see it creak open. Luka clutched her hand in a death-grip.

“Okay. This looks weird. Let’s call Lily to see if everything’s alright.” said Miku. She turned around, leading Luka, before something grabbed the pink-haired woman from behind, screaming. Miku pulled on Luka’s hand and switched their positions, dealing a well-aimed punch to the attacker, who let go with a noise of surprise. Luka stepped backwards and pulled Miku with her, before they both saw who it was. Lily had a hand over her nose and a crafty stream of curses slipped from between her lips. Miku let out a sigh of relief.

“Sorry Lily.” she said. Lily shook her head dramatically.

“No, nope, no, it’s good. It’s _good_...” she hissed, a tiny spot of blood trickling from between her fingers. “I’m going to see the nurse in the next cabin over, you guys can get settled in. Gumi’s inside if you have any questions.” She got up and started walking away, but then appeared to reconsider for a moment before breaking into a light jog. Miku apologized profusely after her before they decided to go in. They each found their own room and brought in their various possessions. “I hope her nose is alright...” muttered Miku, coming out into the living room to sit with Luka on the couch.

“You hit her pretty hard.” Luka cringed, agreeing.

“I’m so sorry!” Miku exclaimed, blushing bright red.

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Luka reassured her, leaning back on the couch. “Anyway, thanks.”

“Of course.” Miku responded, crossing her arms. “I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?”

“Well yes,” said Luka, “but many people can say those things, even with a good intent, and not do them when it comes to a split-second decision.”

“Well I’m not ‘many people.’” said Miku, sitting back. “I think I broke my fist, though.” she winced, shaking her hand a few times. There was a brief silence, in which both women were lost in thought.

“It’s going to be weird staying in separate rooms.” commented Luka. Miku nodded. She had been thinking the same thing, but didn’t want to say it.

“Good weird or bad weird?” she asked, closing her eyes. There was a pause as Luka genuinely considered the question. Certainly, for most people, living with another human being was difficult. However when it had come to herself and Miku, they were both very close and treated one another with just enough respect and closeness for it to be a comfortable coexistence.

“Bad weird.” Luka decided.

“Me too.” muttered Miku. Luka laughed.

“That reply made no sense.” she said, in response to Miku’s confused expression. The shorter woman huffed, before sitting back.

“I’d say something witty but I’m just too tired at this point.” she decided, nestling into the couch. They sat in silence for a short while, before Lily came back with something strapped to her nose. Luka cocked an eyebrow.

“Is your nose broken?” she asked. Lily shook her head.

“Nope, fortunately enough for me my cheekbone absorbed most of the impact.” she replied, sarcastically cheerful. Miku muttered something incomprehensible that sounded somewhat like an apology.

“Alright, looks like your girlfriend’s about ready to go to bed.” Lily commented, the corners of her mouth upturned into a sly smirk. 

“Hey Lily!” started Luka, sitting up on her knees so that she could face Lily over the back of the couch. “Hey Lily, guess what?” The false excitement on her voice let Lily know exactly what was coming next, and the blonde-haired woman turned away, ignoring the vulgar hand-gesture that her friend was giving her.

“Whatever. The beds are ready whenever you are.” she said, waving her hand and heading up a flight of stairs. When she was far enough upstairs that Luka couldn’t hurt her, she yelled “Feel free to put them to good use!” Luka got off of the couch and sprinted up the stairs, hands balled into fists, and Lily searched for the nearest room with a lockable door.

 

 

Luka and Miku found that the resort was rather large, consisting of a few cabins around a secluded lake. There would be inflatable slides and games in the water during the summer, and people would even be able to rent out a few boats.

“It’s my parents’ way of apologizing for being entirely engulfed in their business for eighteen years.” Lily explained, waving it off. “But hey. Eighteen years of neglect,” she motioned to herself, smiling slightly “I could’ve turned out worse.” They were all finishing breakfast when Gumi entered the kitchen, looking surprisingly calm for someone who had spent one week alone with Lily. They were going to go hiking to the lake, because Lily had been practically bouncing off of the walls with energy.

 

 

Sitting on the docks as the sun sank, Miku stared out into the water, furrowing her brow in thought. She was alerted to Luka’s approach by the sound of soft footfall behind her, but didn’t pay her any mind until they were sitting side-by-side.

“Hey.” Luka announced herself, and Miku uttered quiet response, still lost in thought and not quite ready to enter the real world again. Luka slid her legs over the side of the dock, skimming the surface of the water with her feet before immediately pulling them out with a disgruntled noise of surprise. She let out a light string of curses, and Miku stifled a laugh in the back of her hand.

“I’m so glad I got to meet you again.” said Luka. Miku was surprised by the sincerity in her voice, and gave the other woman her full attention.

“I’m glad too.” she responded, turning her gaze back out to the lake, “Really glad. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Luka nodded in agreement. She didn’t know how to express her thoughts, but her closeness with the other woman allowed her to speak freely, knowing that any misunderstandings could simply be resolved. So much had changed about them and between them, and yet their friendship was as comfortable as it had been when they were children.

“I can’t believe we’re almost nineteen.” Luka said, breaking the silence again. Miku nodded to show her agreement. “We’re so old.” The pink-haired woman continued. Miku laughed.

“Old?” she asked amusedly, “How do you think we’re going to feel when we’re forty?”

“Older.” Luka deadpanned, shrugging. Miku rolled her eyes and Luka furrowed her brow. She really wanted to ask the other woman about their relationship, but she was reasonably afraid. They were so comfortable as things were, that it made little sense to stir everything up, and yet she still wished to do so. It wasn’t uncommon, she remembered, for people of the opposite sex to ask such questions of their friends. In those cases, even if the feeling wasn’t reciprocated, they could often resume their friendship with just a slight bit of awkwardness. However with homophobia still ever-present and making her a walking taboo, it was taking a risk. Still, Miku was understanding, and although Luka was nervous, she knew that her friend would not do anything to harm her. So she took a deep breath, raked a hand through her hair, and began thinking of what to say.

“What’s wrong?” asked Miku. Luka froze, before deciding that it was time to ask.

“Miku...” she began. Despite the trust that she had for her childhood friend, she was nervous. Miku waited patiently, but the innocent look on her face almost made Luka back down. How dare she even consider confessing to her. “I...” she tried again, and Miku waited patiently for her to say what she was going to say. Mustering up all of the courage that she could find, Luka took a breath and continued. “You are my closest and oldest friend, Miku.” she began, “And there’s something that I’ve been wanting to say for... quite a while. So I’m going to say it, but just because I want you to know, okay? I don’t expect anything in return, it’s just been on my mind for a while, and I wanted to tell you.” she said. Miku paused in her train of thought. It seemed like Luka was... “Miku, quite frankly... Well, the thing is... It’s just... I’ve wanted to say this for so long and I’m just so sorry but I really want you to know... It’s...” Luka was surprised at herself. As soon as she had made the decision to tell her, she backed down, recoiling quickly.

“Luka? You...?” Miku prompted, hoping that the woman was saying what she thought she was saying.

“Oh never mind!” Luka exclaimed, frustrated. “Just...”

“Luka.” tentatively, Miku took the other woman’s arm, leaning forward. Luka met her eyes, somewhat surprised, and asked a silent question. Taking this as all of the confirmation that she needed, Miku closed the distance, gently kissing the other woman. Luka froze up for a second, shocked, but raised her hand to Miku’s cheek to prompt the other woman to stay where she was, closing her eyes and returning the gesture. She was soft and warm, and Luka found herself reluctant to pull back. When they finally broke apart, Luka noted Miku’s slightly dazed expression and felt the urge to continue, dipping down and recapturing her lips.

They each gently expressed the love that they had been keeping to themselves for what felt like an eternity. When they finally separated, they sat in silence once again, smiling almost stupidly at one another before Luka pulled her childhood friend into a hug.

“I’m so happy...” she murmured. Miku hummed in agreement, and Luka could feel her nod. After a while, someone cleared her throat behind them, startling them both enough to cause them to jump apart. Gumi was standing on the other end of the docks, staring at them.

“Ah, sorry Gumi.” Miku smiled awkwardly, “I didn’t know you were there.” Instead of giving an immediate response, Gumi simply stood there. As opposed to the smile that usually crossed her face, she was almost expressionless, regarding them with eyes that spoke slightly of betrayal. As opposed to telling them what she had come to say, she just shifted from one foot to the other. The words that came eventually were not what the other women wanted to hear either.

“How dare you.” accused Gumi, sounding hurt. She turned around and stalked back to the cabin. Miku and Luka stared after her, not saying a word.


End file.
